Intelligent, Indestructible, and Impossible!
by imaninja41
Summary: Superboy needs a sparring challenge, one he can use his strength with, and not worry about killing them.When Wolverine brings in a teenage girl with metal claws and her little sister, what happens?Grudges, friendships, sappy songs, and an unwelcome enemy.
1. Superboy's New Instructor

Ok guys, this story is a cross over between Marvel Comics and Young Justice. I might turn it into a Superboy love story, reviews can help me decide. Anyways, my OC, Mio, she's awesome, then again, she's a Howlett, how can she not be?

In the beginning, there was blood.

The team waited patiently as Batman talked on the communicator, wanting to know exactly why they had been called. They were curious because, not only was Batman there, but so was Black Canary, Red Tornado, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Flash, and Superman.

Conner couldn't help but steal glances at the man of steel, saddened by the fact that Superman didn't even glance at him.

"I understand, but she'll come around eventually." Batman said into the link. "Yes, I've dealt with people like her before."

To the teams surprise, Batman actually smirked, "No, just you, but that in itself is quite enough."

Robin frowned, trying to figure out who his mentor would actually laugh with, and coming up with no suspects.

"She can decide for herself, but I'll be urging her to accept." Batman paused, "Of course that's the right entrance, do you see any other mountains with a secret entrance around here?"

Kid Flash's eyes widened, and he turned to robin, "Did Bats just make a joke?"

Robin's eyes widened too, "Yeah, I think so."

Superboy spoke up, "The person on the other end just threatened Batman, but I'm pretty sure they won't really cut out his diaphragm."

Robin's eyes suddenly lit up, "Oh, I know who he's talking to."

Batman ended his conversation, looking up at the team, "To answer any questions, that was a certain friend of mine, who should be here momentarily. He'll be bringing a guest with him, and she might take some… adjusting too."

"We're getting a new team mate?" Megan asked, happy at this news.

"And a girl at that." Artemis smirked at Wally, "Get ready boys, girl hostile take over time."

"Please." Wally snorted, "Whoever she is, she's bound to have more social skill than you."

"Meaning?" Artemis asked.

"Meaning she'll fall for me in no time." Wally summed up.

Robin suddenly burst into laughter, his signature cackle to be precise. Everyone stared at him, until Wally asked, "Dude, _what_ is so funny?"

Robin took a deep breath, and finally said, "Wally, unless you want to be decapitated, you'll keep your flirting to yourself, if this new team mate is who I think it is."

He turned towards Batman, "Is it?"

"Yes, but she's not going to be your team mate." The Dark Knight answered. "She's meant to be an instructor for Conner."

Conner looked up, "What?"

Black Canary nodded, "You're progress is outstanding, but I'm afraid in order for you to really push your limits, you need a sparing partner you can actually hit full force."

"Without killing them." Batman finished.

"But I'm doing fine-" Conner started.

"But you can always do better." Black Canary finished. "This new girl will help you progress, and in time, I think you'll come to respect her, maybe even like her.

Robin snorted, "That's likely."

Suddenly, the doors opened, and in walked a man who looked to be in his thirties, with a teenage girl at his right side, and a toddler holding onto the teenager's hand for dear life, crossing her legs so hard, Robin knew he couldn't get into that position without pulling a muscle.

The teenager and the man were in a heated argument. "You said she went before she left."

"I said I told her to go, you can't blame me for her stupidity." The teenager retorted.

Conner couldn't believe his eyes, this so called instructor was two heads smaller than him. She had a very thin figure, hardly any upper body strength. She had this air about her, that said 'I'm better than you' and a look on her face that screamed, 'I don't care.' She had the blackest hair he had ever seen, and it was obviously natural. Her eyes were a piercing blue, they gave his a run for their money. Her skin marked her as an oriental. Either Chinese, or Japanese, he couldn't decide.

She wore a long sleeved, zip up black shirt, the zipper pulled down to about an inch under her collar bone. Black pants adorned her legs, and black combat boots completed her simple outfit. She didn't look a like a Goth, she didn't have on heavy eyeliner, or any other make up on.

Her eyes scanned the room, and landed on Robin, who walked over to her, "Mio, long time, no see."

"Not long enough." She said, showing her obvious disdain for the resident boy wonder.

He chuckled, "Still as warm and welcoming as ever."

The toddler suddenly spoke up, "Mio!"

"Oh right." Mio said, she looked at Robin, "Bathroom?"

"Down the hall, third door on the left." He said, pointing.

The toddler took off, not bothering to wait for anyone to go with her.

Her eyes traveled again as the man started talking to Batman, and they landed on Conner. She didn't bother hiding her obvious disdain for him as well, "This is my crash course student?"

Conner frowned, and walked over to her, holding out my hand, "Conner."

She looked at his hand with disinterest, and then back up at him, "We've got a _lot _of work to do."

Conner dropped his hand and glared at her, and she wasn't even fazed. Black Canary came over quickly, "Well, Mio, it's an honor to finally meet you."

She shrugged, "Eh, like wise I guess. Who, are you again?"

Black Canary faltered, and then smiled again, "Black Canary." She stuck out her hand to shake, like I had.

The girl sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, and then looking at Canary in an odd way, "Are you asking my to break your arm, flip you over my shoulder, or slice through the vital vein in your wrist?"

"None of the above." Black Canary said, dropping her hand. Robin quickly stepped in.

"Oh yeah, forgot the pleasantries myself." He gave a short bow, folding his hands together. Mio nodded, and then did the same.

Conner raised an eyebrow, and Robin quickly explained, "She's Japanese, not that great with American customs I might add."

Black Canary raised an eyebrow, "You were born in Japan?"

Mio shrugged, "Ten years in Japan, five in America, and frankly everything here disgusts me."

Megan looked taken back, "Everything?"

"What you people call food, I call vaguely edible substances drowned in grease. Known to you as pizza, bacon, and burgers." She explained, "What you call TV, I call subtle brainwashing. What you call bosses, I call know it all's who can't even do your jobs."

Artemis smirked, "Oh yeah, she's gonna fight in great."

Wally zoomed next to Mio, about to use some stupid pick up line, but before he could open his mouth, she quickly grabbed his shoulder, jabbing her thumb into the skin as hard as she could.

He suddenly collapsed, twitching and groaning. Robin cackled again, "I warned you KF!"

Mio looked like she was trying to remember something, "Isn't he the fastest kid alive? Pathetic."

Batman turned to the team, "Enough talk, Conner, Mio, time to spar."

Megan spoke up, "Shouldn't Mio get settled in first?"

Mio snorted, "Look Martian, I'm not staying here."

Megan frowned, "But I thought you were going to be Conner's instructor."

"If I feel like it." She said, "We spar one round, if I decide he's actually worth my time, then I'll be his instructor, however, I won't be staying here. I'll get an apartment in the city if he actually manages to pass this little test."

Robin frowned, "You know he can't beat you."

Conner growled at Robin as he and Mio stepped into the middle of the room and Black Canary started the computer.

"He doesn't have to." Mio said, taking a fighting stance, and Conner followed suit. "He only has to intrigue me."

"Wait!" came a little voice, as the toddler ran back into the room. She ran to stand by the man who came with Mio. "OK, fight!"

Mio didn't need to be told twice, she leapt at Conner, who dodged quickly. She immediately regained her stance. "You're fairly fast, not a total weakling after all."

Conner growled, and lunged at her, throwing a series of punches, which she easily weaved in and out of, smirking the whole time.

Conner caught a brief look of her eyes while she moved, and what he saw unnerved him. He could see, she was loving every minute of this fight, every move she made, every breath she took, was that of an animal.

She attacked him with such curiosity, Conner stumbled back. Her punches and kicks didn't hurt him, he was the boy of steel, after all. They just shocked him. She twisted out is his desperate attempts to punch her, kick her, grab her, or trip her. She suddenly jumped up, planting a foot down on each of his shoulders, and shoved off, flipping through the air, and landing without a sound, even Robin was impressed.

She wasn't smirking anymore, she was frowning. He could still see the monster no, the animal in her eyes, wanting to fight, wanting to kill, wanting to kill _him_. He was a little scared, but he wouldn't let it show. Not in front of the team, and not in front of Superman.

"You're wasting my time!" The girl snapped. Conner lunged at him again, and she jumped over him, flipping and landing perfectly again.

"Stop trying to hit me!" She snapped.

Conner was furious, "Isn't that the whole point?"

"You're not listening!" She snapped, dodging more attacks, "Stop trying to hit me, and just focus on dodging me, idiot!"

He growled, but did as she said, dodging as much as he could, and silently taking the ones he couldn't dodge. They went on like that for twenty three minutes, until Conner saw an opening. He punched her right in the chest as hard as he could, sending her flying into the cave wall, and halfway through it.

"Conner!" Megan shouted, horrified. Then he realized, he had actually done that. No one could have survived that. Wally and artemis were immediately a the far wall, pulling the girl's motionless body out of the hole her body had made.

His heart stopped for a moment, he didn't hear a heart beat.

Suddenly, the girl shoved Wally, who had been trying to check her pulse, away, and got on her hands on knees, coughing up blood and trying to stand.

Artemis tried to get her to sit down, but she was pushed away too as the girl stood up, her right leg at an odd angle. The girl jerked her head to the side, and everyone heard a sickening crackle. Conner looked towards the man he assumed was her father, they looked enough alike, to see him covering the toddler's eyes.

He didn't look concerned for the girl, just smiling at her as she jerked her leg to the side. Conner winced, hearing the bone snap back into place. She cracker her knuckles, and slowly turned her head to the side, a spit a good amount of blood on the floor.

She turned back to Conner, her tongue licking the little bit of blood from her lips. Her own blood. If her eyes were scary before, they were terrifying now. The animal was enraged, ready to kill, to pounce.

She calmly walked over, slowly, with a purpose. As she walked, a loud *snikt* could be heard, as a long, thin knife appeared in each hand, gleaming dangerously.

As she got loser, she attacked, slicing at Conner quickly and mercilessly. Conner jumped back, trying to dodge, but soon found he couldn't keep up with her at this speed. She was quickly able to cut him across his shoulder, and she used his short lived surprise to trip him, and pin him, both knives at his throat, in the position of an X.

No one moved, no one spoke for the longest time, until they heard faint clapping. They both looked over to see Black Canary standing there, clapping slowly and softly.

"Congratulations." She said, "I've always wanted to see the legendary Hell Hound in action."

The girl stood up, and that was when Conner saw the knives weren't being held by her, but attached to her. They were sticking out of her skin, slicing right through each middle finger knuckle, a faint line of blood trailing from each. He watched as the knives went back into her hands, and the slow motion of sliding through the hand and into the arm. The wounds that they had made coming out closed up, and she wiped away the blood with the same bored expression she had when she walked in, the animal was no where to be seen, but he knew it was still there.

He slowly stood up, not sure what had just happened.

"Thank you for the compliment." Mio, or apparently, Hell Hound said, heading out of the sparing area and over to the man and toddler. The toddler tried to run over to Mio, but the man held her back as Mio hesitated on the edge of the sparing area.

She took in a breath, and said without looking over her shoulder, "Congratulations Superboy, you've intrigued me." She hesitated as he stood there, "Surprisingly."

She walked off the edge of the circle, and the toddler jumped at her leg, hugging it, "Dat was amazing Mio! You cwushed him!"

The girl kept walking with the toddler latched onto her thigh, "Let's go Logan."

The man, Logan, nodded, and turned to Black Canary, "She'll be back the day after tomorrow, gotta get settled in to her apartment."

"Will you be with her?" Black Canary asked.

"Nope, I'm heading back to New York." He said, "Lovette will be staying with her."

The toddler smiled, "Yay," while Mio groaned to herself.

"You're just going to let her live alone?" Super man asked, speaking up for the first time. He didn't know Logan that well, only met him once before, but he already didn't care for him much, maybe it was the fact he killed villains, or his attitude, but either way it was all the same. "She's just a kid Logan, she can't live by herself."

"She can take care of herself well enough." Logan said, fixing the kryptonian in his signature look, "If she's good at one thing, it's survival."

"But your leaving Lovette with her." Superman argued, "That _is _child neglect."

Logan snorted, "She's fifteen years old, you think she doesn't know how to take care of a three year old?"

"Well I'm just saying-"

"Shut _up_!" Mio exclaimed. "Look big blue boy scout, I'm tired, I just drove all the way here from New York cause Logan didn't wanna take the X-jet, technically, your kid just killed me, and I really wanna go to sleep. I'm not a _child_, unless you count my age, which you shouldn't. If I can fight my way through an army, I can take care of a toddler for a few freaking weeks! Which is probably the longest I'll be here, so get your thong out of a knot and shove off!"

With that, the girl walked out with the toddler in tow, followed quickly by Logan. Wally was the first one to break the silence that settled over the cave, "_Well_, I'm confused."


	2. Lovette's Bedtime Story

Mio stepped into the apartment, it wasn't much, but it had two bed rooms, one had a walk in closet and a door that lead to the small porch, and one had it's own bathroom. It had a small kitchen that doubled as a laundry room, a living room that also had a door to the porch, and a small dinning area with a dark wood table big enough for four people. Six if you really tried to squeeze them in.

Lovette immediately called dibs on the bedroom with the porch and walk in closet, leaving Mio with the master bedroom. Logan stayed for an hour or so, long enough to get them a map and point out corner stores, banks, parks, Lovette's daycare, and Mio's high school.

Mio didn't like going to school, but Logan said it was either that, or she got a job. She tried to play off mentoring Conner as a job, since she was getting paid for it, but all Logan said was, "Nice try, but no cigar." He then pointedly blew smoke from the cigar he had been chewing on into her face.

She took that opportunity to kick him out. She loved Logan, he was her family, but she couldn't stand his cigars, his beer, or his job.

Those were some of the reasons she had taken the Bat's offer so quickly, leaving the Xavier Institute in a heartbeat. Another reason was to away from Logan's shadow. Logan had always been protective of her, more so than he was Rogue, Kitty, or even Jubilee. Some might criticize and say it was because she was actually related to Logan, but Mio knew the truth.

It was because she was the only one he hadn't messed up with!

Not a lot of people knew that Logan had two other children, Laura Howlett (X-23) also known as his clone. Mio had met Laura once, and she had learned three things from her.

1) Never mess up and call her X-23. _**Never**_.

2) When you spar with her, watch her hands, _**and**_ her feet.

3) Don't tell her a secret you've kept form Logan, she'll tell him.

That third one was one hard lesson, and Mio had felt very betrayed when Logan confronted her. Laura was the only girl she was related to that was still alive, and Mio had wanted to make a bit more of a bond with her than Logan because of that. So she had told Laura about a little ability that she had kept secret from nearly everyone she knew.

Laura had been concerned that she hadn't told Logan, even after Mio explained that she just wanted one thing in her life Logan didn't know about. Laura hadn't understood, and fearing Mio might be plotting against him (In their messed up joke of a family it wasn't that uncommon) she told Logan.

Logan had been really mad at Mio for lying to him, and it had taken months for Mio to gain his trust back. That was the way punishments worked with Logan, he didn't ground you, or spank you, or even take away your allowance. He dropped his respect, trust, or faith in you. To Mio, that was way worse than being grounded.

Mio didn't consider herself to be a person who sought after acceptance, but it hurt her to know that Logan, the only man she had ever gotten close to, lost his trust in her.

The other child Logan had was kept even more under wraps than Laura and Mio put together, and most of the people who know about him don't realize he's affiliated with Logan, let alone his son.

Mio shivered, remembering her very few meetings with that man, no, that monster. That's what he was, nothing but a monster.

Lovette shook Mio out of her thoughts, "Mio, I'm hungry, what's for dinner?"

Mio sighed, standing up from the couch slowly, "Since we just got here and I haven't had time to buy anything, I guess we're having take out."

Lovette smiled, she loved Japanese food, and with the map and a few phone calls, she was able to order quickly. Mio didn't get to talk in Japanese very often, so she tended to talk in Japanese when she ordered food, believe it or not, the people actually give you better service if it's a Japanese restaurant. Everyone's a little bit racist, not to the point of hate crimes, but still, everyone _is _a little bit.

**AT MOUNT JUSTICE:**

Artemis stared at Robin as they all sat down in the living room, "You're saying she's the daughter of _the _Wolverine?"

"Yep." Robin said, "She's the only person I _like _losing to."

"OK two questions." Wally piped up.

"Good Lord, here we go again." Artemis sighed.

"One, since when does Wolverine have a daughter? Two, how did you meet her? A surprise third, why do you actually _like _losing to her?" Wally asked.

"OK." Robin said, using his wrist computer and pulling up a file, "She's fifteen years old, gonna be sixteen fairly soon, so he's had a daughter for fifteen years, but he's really only known about her for about… three I think."

"Why?" Megan spoke up, looking worried.

Robin looked up at her, "I don't know. Maybe it was a one night thing, maybe there was a freak accident, maybe she's really a clone."

Conner perked up at that, "A clone?"

"Why not?" Robin asked, "He's already got one clone, he might have another."

"Wait so… Mio has a sister?" Wally asked.

"Other than the carrot top toddler, yes." Robin said, "But I'm not telling you guys more about that, it's personal, and Mio's my friend."

They all looked like they wanted to ask more, but didn't. "Ok moving on, I met her on a recon mission with Batman and Wolverine. Wolverine brought along a thirteen year old terror who wasn't affected by Batman's worst glare, that sure caught my attention. We got paired together for a few small assignments after that, mostly I think cause Wolverine was trying to get her a social life."

Robin stopped, and they all looked at him, begging him to continue. "She didn't like to talk much, but eventually I got her talking. Those claws of hers, made by an indestructible metal called adamantium." Robin looked up at Superboy, "That's how she actually cut you."

Superboy looked at the scratch on his shoulder, now bandaged up thanks to Red Tornado. He glared down at the floor, it was an embarrassment, a pathetically short girl had taken him down with ease. In front of Superman! His thoughts drifted to her, she had actually mouthed of to Superman, and wasn't even scared. Conner shrugged to himself, guess she was like Artemis, but even Artemis didn't mouth off to certain people. Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, and several other people, Artemis check her mouth around. Not this girl.

She seemed to have no morals at all. When she had her claws at his throat, he had seen a look in her eye that had made him want to scream, to scream and cry and just get away from her!

Conner had never seen that look before, but he could only associate it with the look of a deadly wolf, behind bars. A look that said it can't get to you now, but if it could, it would be picking pieces of you out of his teeth in a matter of minutes. A look that made Conner wonder if the girl was even human.

"And thirdly I like losing to her because it is awesome to really watch her fight." Robin finished.

"Wait, you mean… she was holding back?" Kaldur asked.

"Yeah." Robin said, "I've seen what she can do, what she can really do. If she hadn't of held back, Conner would have been dead with the second punch she swung, maybe even the first."

Conner's fists tightened, she had gone easy on him! If she was going to walk in and beat him black and blue in front of Superman, in front of his team, the least she could have done was honor him with a real fight! She had been toying with him! He was nothing more than a toy that had intrigued her. Despite his rage, Conner had to wonder, '_**what's going to happen to me when she eventually get's bored?'**_

_**AT A NEARBY RESTAURANT:**_

Me and Lovette walked a few blocks to get to the restaurant and pick up our order, Pork Lo Mien for me with is noodles cooked in pork sauce with pieces of pork in it with some vegetables, and Lovette come herself hayashi rice, which is thick beef stew on top of rice.

Lovette insisted on carrying the small bag of rice cakes home herself, since I was carrying a plastic bag filled with our food. The rice cakes same as an extra, and Lovette loved to eat hers with duck sauce. I preferred mine with soy sauce, I didn't really like sweet things, and duck sauce was sweet.

So, we ate our first meal at the apartment, and after dinner it was time for Lovette's Japanese lesson. Ever since me and her have been together I've been better at speaking Japanese than English, and it was stressful at the beginning when I could only ask a few questions in English and say one thing.

**Excuse me, have you seen this person?**

**Where's the bathroom?**

**Where can I find food?**

**I don't know where I am, do you know where I can stay the night?**

**Stop!**

And the one I used most often: **Stay still, and die with honor, weakling.**

I shook my head, I didn't like thinking about what I used to do before I met Logan, it gave me nightmares sometimes. Lovette looked up at me, "Mio wa, watashi wa watashi no ressun no tame no junbi ga dekite iru." _Mio, I am ready for my lesson._

I nodded, "Say: Some one, please help me!" That was the first thing I had taught her to say.

"Darekaga, watashi o tasuketekudasai!" She said.

I nodded, and we went over what she had already learned for awhile. "OK, here's your new sentence: Battoman wa, no kauru ga magatteimasu."

She repeated it, and then asked me, "What doe sit mean?"

"Batman, your cowl is crooked." I translated.

"Was his cowl crooked?" She asked.

"Nope, you can say that just to annoy him from time to time." I said.

"Give me one for Superman!" She asked.

I shrugged, "Fine, Sūpāman, mite! Sore wa, kuriputonaitoda!"

She repeated it quickly, "What does that mean?"

"Superman, look! It's Kryptonite!" I said.

"Cool." She said, smiling. After that, Lovette wanted a story, one with a princess in it.

Mio had grown up in Japan, hearing Japanese folk tales with the occasional Chinese one mixed in. She knew nothing about Cinderella, or Snow White until she met Lovette. Frankly, it disgusted her. Mulan was pretty much the only Disney movie or book she could stomach, because the girl could actually stand up for herself. In Mio's opinion, Disney was sexist.

So, Mio told Lovette stories she had heard growing up whenever she wanted to hear one. She had told her three on the car ride over here, and she was sick of telling them. One look into Lovette's big green eyes made her change her mind immediately.

"OK." Mio began, "How about the one about the two bowls floating in the ocean?"

"Boring." Lovette said.

"The two frogs climbing the mountain?"

"You told me that one in the car." Lovette pouted, "And none of those stories have princesses." _Curse Logan for not packing Mulan for her to watch!_

Mio sighed, "OK, how about a story my Mom used to tell me? About a dragon, a warrior, and a princess?"

"Oh! What's a dragon?" She asked.

"A huge lizard, bigger than these trees, who can breath fire, and control the weather. Dragons live to be hundreds of years old, so they are the wisest creatures alive. They are one of the many animals who can contact the spirit world." I told her.

"Ok, what color are they?"

"... uh... well, there's no set color, one might be blue, another might be black, but the one in this story is red." I said.

"OH... why can't it be pink?" She asked, pouting.

"Because dragons aren't pink." I growled.

"Well, can this one be pink? Please?" she begged.

"No."

"Why not?" She whined.

"Because that isn't how the story goes, now shut up, listen to the story, and fall asleep." I growled. She shut up.

"In a far away land, there was a young boy, named Mio, who owned next to nothing, except his sword, and his love for his country. He wanted to go to war as a soldier, but he was to young. So he stayed in his home, and watched helplessly as the real soldiers failed to protect his beloved country, and a powerful emperor took over the land." I said.

"Mio is your name too." Lovette pointed out, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Mio glanced at the clock, it was 9:07, and Lovette was normally in bed by 8:30.

"Yes." I answered calmly, "My Mother named me Mio because she wanted me to be as strong as him." I cleared my throat and continued with the story, "After years of watching all the suffering the emperor put his country through, Mio had had enough. He was now a full grown man, and he felt it was hid duty to save his country from any more suffering."

Lovette yawned again, and laid down on the couch, resting her head on Mio's thigh. "What's suffering?"

"Pain." I answered, "Like being hungry, or having a paper cut." That was the only way she knew how to explain it to the small girl.

"So he took his sword, and carried it up to the highest mountain in Japan, and then knelt outside of a cave that the ancient dragon of Yamatai lived in. The dragon came out, and asked him why he came to his domain uninvited. Mio begged for forgiveness, and told the dragon all the suffering going on in his land. He then unsheathed his sword, and held it out to the dragon, and begged the dragon to teach him the secrets of the sword." Mio said, and then scooped up the tired little toddler, taking her into her room and laying her down on her small twin bed.

Lovette yawned, and curled up, pulling up the covers to her chin. Mio took the small blue teddy bear from Lovette's back pack, and placed it beside the girl, who immediately wrapped her arms around it.

"After learning all he could from the dragon, Mio went back to his country, and then took out the entire army of the evil emperor by himself, and then killed the emperor. Years later, when Mio had become the emperor of the country he still loved, the dragon came to the palace, and demanded the heart of the princess as payment for teaching Mio to fight. Mio could not refuse, he had to be honorable, and pay his dept. So he grabbed his sword, and cut out his own heart, and gave it to the dragon, saying 'Here, the princes is in my heart' and then he died."

She was silent for awhile, then asked, "Did he come back to life?"

"No." I said "He died, that's the end of the story."

"That's not a very nice story, I don't think I like it very much." She said.

"I don't care if you like it or not, that's how the story goes." I grumbled.

"What happened the his country?" She asked.

"... I... I don't know." I said, hesitantly, "I guess they got a new emperor, and they just... kept on existing."

Lovette closed her eyes, "But weren't they sad?"

"Yes, but that's life, bad things happen, and you have to move on." I said, shrugging.

"What about the princes?""I supposed she grew up and got married."

"What about the dragon?"

"Probably took his heart and brought it back to his mountain and ate it or something." I said. She opened her eyes, looking pail, so I sighed, and said, "Just go to sleep Lovette."

Lovette soon fell asleep, and I walked back out into the living room, remembering when my mother used to tell me that story.

"_But why didn't he just kill the dragon?" I asked mommy as she stood up from my bedside._

"_Because, that would not have been honorable." She said, blowing out the candle on my nightstand._

"_But he would have lived." I pointed out._

"_People were different back then." Mommy said, smiling at me._

"_If that happened to me, should I have cut out my heart?" I asked in a whisper._

"_Of course not baby." Mommy said, kissing my forehead, "If that ever happens to you, you better fight with all you have, and never give up."_

_I smiled, and then pulled the blankets closer to me. "Yes Mommy."_

I shook my head, I had taken all of it for granted back then, didn't know what I had until it was taken from me. All I had ever had, all I had ever known was my mother. I had grown up in a small village in Japan, and everyone there had hated me for two reasons, I had no father, and I was only three fourths Japanese. School had been a nightmare for me, every kid there wanted to tease me, bully me, or physically abuse me.

I had gotten into fights all the time, some they started, some I did.

Before I had gotten my healing factor, I had come home with bruises, cuts, and scabs. Mother had always bandaged them carefully, and as soon as she was done, she would kiss my forehead, and wipe away my tears, "Mio, you're brave, beautiful, and strong, so dry those eyes, and hold your head up high. Don't you ever let anyone defy the fighter inside you. Don't listen when they call you bad things, love yourself and who you are always. If anyone stands against you, give them hell."

Most parents would frown a the idea of cursing around their child, but my mother was different. She had never said anything bad, the only time she ever cursed really was when she told me that. She said that every time I got hurt, or I felt like the world was against me, that I couldn't keep fighting.

I sighed, laying down on my bed. I used to cry when I thought of my mother, but now I didn't. I had cried over he so many time when I was younger, I suppose I was used to her being dead by now. I sighed, rolling over and pulling the blankets over my head. If my mother saw me now, saw what I had become, she would cry her eyes out, wondering how the child she gave so much love to had turned into this.


	3. If You Do Whatever I Tell You To Do

I was supposed to drop Lovette off at preschool, but I didn't have my old alarm clock, so I didn't wake up until eleven. By then, I figured it was to late to go to preschool or high school anyway.

So, with Lovette in tow, I climbed onto my motorcycle Logan had brought with him when he dropped us off, and sped through the streets to the mount justice.

When we walked in, Black Canary was there, watching Artemis and Robin spar. I walked up with Lovette by her side, watching with vague interest.

Canary turned to her, "Nice to see you again."

I shrugged, "Where's Superboy?"

"He's in the kitchen with Megan, he isn't training with them today because if Logan's reputation is anything to go on, you'll work him to the bone." Canary said, smirking.

I grimaced, "I'm not that much like Logan."

Black Canary frowned, concerned. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah." I said, looking up at her, raising an eyebrow, "Why?"

"You just seemed upset." She said. "If you need to talk about anything, I'm here."

I frowned, "Nothing is wrong, and even if it is, I wouldn't talk to you about it, I hardly know you."

She shrugged, "A stranger is better than no one."

Megan suddenly floated in, and as soon as she saw Lovette, she broke into a grin, turning to me, "Hi! We were never properly introduced last time, but I'm M'gann, but you can call me Megan. It's an Earth name, and since I'm on Earth, I figured I should have one."

"OK." I said.

Megan smiled a little more, "So, you're here for Conner, right?"

"Yeah, first real training session." I said, shrugging.

"Yeah, me and him talked, he's sorry for what he did last time." She said, an apologetic smile on his face.

I stared at her, "Why?"

"Well, you said it yourself, he basically killed you." She said, shrugging.

"Yeah, but Megan, that wasn't the first time I've _died _and it won't be the last." I explained. "He doesn't have to be sorry, and I'm kind of offended he is."

"Why?" Megan asked.

Lovette spoke up suddenly, "Cause Mio doesn't need anybody to be sorry for her, she's tough!"

I chuckled a little, and shook me head, "No, because I can take it, and if I can take it, there's no need to be sorry."

Megan tilted her head to the side, "I never thought about it that way before."

I shrugged, "It's a lesson I had to learn the hard way, kind of my motto now I guess."

Wally suddenly appeared out of nowhere, "Your motto huh? Kind of unoriginal, don't you think?"

I shrugged, "Better than Logan's, his motto is bub, and snikt."

"What?" He asked.

"Never mind." I said, "You wouldn't get it."

Lovette spoke up again, "Do I smell cookies?"

Megan nodded, "Chocolate chip, in the kitchen."

"Yummy!" She said, taking off for the source of chocolaty goodness.

"Lovette, no!" I called, running after her, "Don't eat all of them!"

Megan flew next to me, "Is she one of those kids who can't have sugar?"

"No." I said, turning a corner, trying to catch up with Lovette. "I just want her to save some for me!"

I burst into the kitchen, seeing Lovette sitting on the counter, eating a cookie, with chocolate all over her fingers. Already?

Conner sat on a stood next to her, munching on some as well, and watching the toddler with interested eyes. Megan chuckled at the toddler's messy hands, "We have milk if you want some."

"Yes please." Lovette said.

Megan floated over to the refrigerator and opened it as I took a cookie myself. "Oh, we have chocolate milk too."

"Yay!" Lovette exclaimed, smiling and kicking her feet quickly in excitement.

"Don't eat to much." I said, swallowing a bite of my cookie, "We're actually eating food tonight that isn't take out, and I expect you to eat your vegetables."

Lovette pouted, "But I don't like them."

"Do you want to be an X-man when you get older or not?" I asked.

Lovette considered it quickly, "Yes."

"Then you have to take care of yourself." Mio said firmly, "That means brushing your teeth, eating your vegetables, and not just sitting in the bathtub, you have to actually use the soap."

Lovette gave Mio a defiant look, "Never!"

Wally laughed, "I like this kid." He rushed over to her, and held out a candy bar, "Wanna bite?"

She took it gladly, "Thank you Wally!"

Superboy turned to me, "So, when's training?"

"As soon as you get done." I said, turning away, "I'll be outside when you're ready."

I waited outside for about five minutes, and to me, that's to long, so any chance of me going easy on him vanished. When he did come out, he saw me leaning against a tree and walked over, "Right so, what are we-"

I cut him off by punching him in face. It actually did more damage to my fist than his face, but my healing factor was already stopping the would be bruise. He retaliated by backing up on step, and trying to punch me. I ducked under his fist, lightly tapping his elbow with two fingers, before jumping away. He charged me again, and I flipped over him, tapping his lower spine with two fingers again. He whirled around, and I had to literally bend over backwards to avoid his fist. I rolled away, and then jumped up, watching his fist collide with a tree.

He turned around, leaping at me again, and I ducked, avoiding him as he crashed into another tree.

He stood up slowly, and the tree crashed to the ground.

"First of all, your style is to direct." I said calmly.

"Shut up!" He growled, coming at me again with punches. I weaved in and out of them, getting frustrated he wasn't listening.

"You're angry, I get it!" I snapped.

He tried to punch me, but I jumped over his arm, planting my feet on his shoulder and shoving off, flipping through the air and landing on a tree limb.

"You're anger is nothing!" I screamed down at him.

He punched the tree trunk, shattering it. It started to lean, so I ran along the thick branch, jumping off as the tree fell to the ground. I grabbed the first branch I could, swinging off of it and landing on another, turning to see Superboy jumping up to meet me. I side stepped, and he flew past me, falling onto the ground.

I crouched down on the limb, "As long as your just sitting there, Sūpā shōnen, consider this: anger is nothing. You could be the angriest person in the world, and still be killed by my little sister easily."

He growled at that, and I continued. "Likewise, if I were to get as angry as I could at you, it would cut my abilities in half."

"Don't give me that!" He shouted, "I saw you when we were sparing, I don't know what you are, but you aren't human, and you might be even angrier than me."

"OK, one, no, I'm not human, neither are you matter of fact." I said, shrugging. "And yes, I suppose I am angry, and I know for a fact I _am _angrier than you. Difference is, I have earned the right to be angry, you have not."

He jumped at me again, and I side stepped, but he grabbed my ankle. _How was able to move that fast?_

He dragged me down with him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and neck in the full nelson, tightening them to were it would have really hurt a normal human. "You don't know me!" he shouted. I winced, my hearing, super sensitive.

I wiggled my arms a little, but he held tighter, not allowing me to gain any momentum. "I know you more than you think." I growled. "Superboy, former name, project Kr." His grip tightened, and I gasped, gritting my teeth to try and forget the pain.

"Clone made from DNA stolen from Superman, cry me a river." I snapped. "My sister Laura's a clone too, and she doesn't have this much rage."

"Maybe cause Wolverine actually cares about her." He snapped. Again, I winced, my ears were ringing. Didn't he have super hearing to? I'll use that weakness against him.

"Stop SCREAMING!" I yelled, and felt him wince. "You're giving me a headache, and no, Laura doesn't need Wolverine, she hasn't seen him in nearly a year. Last time she only came because he called her and asked her too."

His grip loosened, his confusion blinding him, "But, doesn't she want a father?"

"That's the thing baka, she doesn't. Their relationship is good friends at best." I suddenly yanked away from him, kicking him in the face and popping my claws, then slicing him across the face, "If she can stand on her own two feet without a father, so can you!"

He tried to roll away, but I stopped him by stomping on his neck as hard as I could, "Grow a pair! Loser!"

He lashed out at me with one arm, but I flipped away easily. He coughed, holding his throat in pain. A normal person would be dead right now, from a broken neck.

I breathed in deeply, trying to calm down, if I didn't, who knows what would happen? I didn't wanna kill him… yet. I mean, if worst came to worst, and I had to… or if I just got really bored one day and he ticked me off, who knows?

He rolled over onto his knees, coughing and holding his throat. I carefully and slowly pulled my two claws back in, one through each middle finger knuckle. Those are the only ones I need to keep this kid at bay. His powers are what he really relies on, and I can't have that.

"Look, you're a smart kid, even without your powers, you'd be considered strong for a human, and you've got some good basic fighting moves going for you." I explained. "It's not that hard for you to put them all together. Stop relying on your powers, cause chances are, you'll eventually lose them. Where will you be then?"

"I won't lose them." He said, glaring up at me.

"You know, Superman lost his powers for a while." I explained. "Wolverine told me about it. Good story really, for about three months, the man of steel was just a regular human. Couldn't fight crime anymore, couldn't lift school buses over his head, he was lost. Good for him he actually got them back. Not sure how, in case you haven't noticed, Wolverine and Superman aren't exactly all chummy. Point is, if that ever happens to you, do you want to be a weak child who can't protect his friends anymore, or do you still want to be able to hold your own ground?"

He hesitated, looking at me, and then down at the ground, before standing up, "You'll teach me?"

"If you're willing to do anything I say, without argument, I can promise you two things, within two months your performance on missions will double, if not triple, and, no matter what you do, Lovette will never leave you alone." I said.

He raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged, "She'll follow you around everywhere blasting annoyingly loud music, and asking you questions that don't matter. Make sure you have an answer to the famous 'What's your favorite color' question, or she'll annoy you until you figure something out." I warned.

He nodded, "Got it."

"So, you'll commit?" I verified.

"I'll do anything you tell me to do as best I can." He promised.

"Well, that's a start." I said, "We're done for the day, in a few minutes Logan's gonna call me wondering why my new school called saying I didn't show up today."

He followed me as I walked inside, "So if you're not human, what are you?"

"Well, other than going down a long and boring lecture on genetics, radiation, and evolution, I'll just say this: the egg heads tell us all that human's evolved from apes, and mutants are the next step in that evolution. However, there's actually a little debate in my family if we can actually be counted as mutants." I explained.

"Why?' He asked, "I mean, I know what a mutant is, and the X-gene, you seem like you can fit into that category."

"Well, recently there's been another piece of the puzzle the egg heads call 'the origin of species' when they wanna feel deep. You see, while people like Speedy and Bird Boy over there evolved form apes-"

"Speedy?" Superboy asked.

"It's my new nick name for Kid Flash." I explained, "Now don't interrupt me, or I'll grab your thong and yank it over your head."

"I'm not wearing a-"

"It's a joke." I snapped, "Or a threat, take it for what you will."

"OK, whatever. But if you start calling Wally Speedy, he'll get pretty mad." Superboy said.

"Well that's kind of the whole reason I'm gonna do it." I said, "Now pay attention. People like me, Logan, Laura, all of us, we're classified as ferals. Sure there are other kind of feral mutants, like Beast, but we haven't ever met anyone who has these," I popped the middle claw on my right fist, "Who aren't related to us. Basically, we think we're almost a different species. Instead of evolving form apes, we evolved from wolves."

Superboy's eyes widened, _**wolf**_. The name seemed to suit her behavior so well. Angry, dominating, fighting on impulse, the way she fought, her obvious want and need to be the 'alpha dog' even when she wasn't fighting, it was all wolf like.

I raised an eyebrow, "You gonna freak out on me?"

"No, why would I freak out on your?" he asked.

"First guy I told who wasn't a mutant and or family member freaked out, haven't seen him since." I said, remembering that night extremely well.

**SUPERBOY'S POINT OF VEIW:**

I frowned, I might not be the best person around at judging emotion, but I could tell, something was wrong with her. "Was he… someone special?"

She paused, "Can we not get into that right now?"

I shrugged, "I don't care."


	4. Enter: Daken Howlett

After Red Tornado's betrayal, Mio and Conner had been having sessions more frequently. Mio knew what was going on, she had seen it with so many people before, including herself. He was desperate to prove he was better, that he could do more than act the hostage. He was frustrated that he hadn't been able to protect anyone, not the way he should have been able to.

She knew the symptoms, increased paranoia, frustration, and anger in training.

They were sparing right now, throwing punches and kicks rapidly. She hadn't used her claws since that day outside the cave, and didn't intend to anytime soon. The cut across his cheek had finally healed, and Megan had been pretty upset to see the wound when he had walked in.

"What exactly are you trying to prove?" Mio asked, ducking under his punch.

"I just don't want to… I mean last time… they hurt-" Conner started, lowering his fist and relaxing his stance.

"Megan." Mio finished, grabbing a water bottle.

He looked down at her, "Well, yeah, Megan, but the rest of the team too."

Mio raised and eyebrow, "So, you have no specifics about Megan's pain?"

Conner gave her a questioning look. "What are you talking about?" he asked, grabbing a water bottle as well.

It was her turn to be confused, "I just thought… I mean you and Megan seem close."

"We live together, we've spent a lot of time together." he answered.

"Yeah, well I can tell she likes you." Mio said.

"You mean…"

"Yeah." Mio said. "That's what I mean."

"But I don't like her that way." Conner debated.

"Then don't lead her on." Mio advised.

"Should I tell her-"

"No." Mio said, "I might have very little experience about dating, but from what I've seen Jean, Rogue, Kitty, Emma, and Jubilee do over the years has taught me that telling a girl you don't like her when it's obvious she does like you but hasn't told you yet, makes her cry in her room, call her friends, and then they eat ice cream together all night."

She shrugged, "Not exactly my way to get over a guy, but I've seen it happen, and for some reason it works."

"What's your way to get over a guy?" He asked.

She shrugged, "Turn the danger room on a high level and adjust the settings to make the villain I'm supposed to take down look like the guy."

He paused, picturing that scene. "You don't seem like the type to date much."

"I don't." She said. "I actually haven't been on a date in about a year."

"So, who was the last guy you dated?" He asked, trying to be casual.

She paused, "His name was Jake. First and last guy I ever dated."

Conner was silent, he had never taken Mio to be a girl who looked for a guy to support her, or even a guy to hang out with. At school she was distant, staying away from everyone but him and Megan.

He looked at her, _really _looked at her. Her skin he had classified as to pale did seem a bit… beautiful now that he thought about it. Her blue eyes were stunning, and the way her short black hair fell around her face, just made her skin look a little paler.

He was taken back, have never realized this but, Mio was… dare he say it… very attractive.

He cleared his throat, "So, what did you guys do exactly?"

She paused again, eyes drifting off, remembering some old memory that she hadn't thought of in awhile. The city park, the moon high overhead, an old swing set. "Well," _Let's see, how does one say, he stole my first kiss, was the first person who actually got past the walls I had put up so long ago, and actually got me to care about him, but then he hurt me so bad I actually cried._ Mio pondered that for a moment._ He was the first man who actually made me cry. I have battled crazy family members trying to kill me, use me to get at Logan, or use me to get at Logan by killing me, I've had childhood trauma that has scarred me for life, I've had my Mother, the only person I have ever cared about taken from me in the most violent heart wrenching way possible, and one teenage boy makes me fall apart just by saying two words._

"Nothing really." She compromised. "We were an average teenage couple. Hung out, talked, kissed. After a few months, it was over."

He nodded as Wolf walked into the room with Lovette on his back, playing the song _Wild Child_, "OK."

They walked out of the gym, and into the training room, where Robin and Kaldur were sparring. They stopped as the two entered the room, talking about random things, mostly asking Lovette to stop using her mutation that allowed her to act as a human radio, or at least switch the song.

Robin turned to Aqualad, "You know they're gonna turn into a couple right?"

Aqualad smirked, "I believe they will."

"Really expected him to go for Megan." Robin admitted.

"Megan is a very sweet girl, but that might be the problem." Kaldur explained. "Conner needs someone who understands his rage, and is not afraid to put him in his place when he needs to be."

Robin chuckled a little, but the Megan walked in. "Do we warn her that in a while the only options she'll have left is a thirteen year old and a fish?"

Aqualad gave him a stern look. "It is not our place."

Robin turned to look at Artemis and Wally who had walked in together, "Can we at least tell them to give up the act and make out already?"

Aqualad glared at him, "Again, not our place."

The computer's voice rang out, "Recognized, Batman, Zero Two."

"Computer, national news." He ordered, walking in quickly.

The teens watched as the computer opened a video, and Metropolis was attacked by huge plants.

"Should we get out there?" Robin asked.

"No." Batman dismissed. "The League will soon have the situation under control. That's not why I'm here. According to your intel Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus' blockbuster formula to Cobra."

Wally spoke up, "Who combined it with bane's venom to create Cobra venom."

"Which the Brain used to create his animal army." Robin finished.

"Wow, have I missed that much by not reading the mission files?" Mio asked.

"Used it to upgrade wolf too." Conner threw in.

"The Brain also used inhibitor collars." Megan said. "Like the ones at Bella Reeve penitentiary."

"Batman, is it possible that Plant is on cobra venom too?"

"That's what I want to know." Batman said, walking over to Mio with two small containers. "This one is a sample of Cobra venom brought back by the team."

Mio took it, opened it, and took s short sniff. She grimaced, "Ugh, it smells disgusting."

He gave her the other one, "This a small sample of a drug we found in the plant's cellular make up."

She smelled that one too. "Yep, that's definitely Cobra venom, and something else too, but I'm not sure." she confirmed.

Aqualad spoke up, "These can not be coincidences, unrelated criminals are cooperating with each other world wide."

"Exactly." Batman said. "Our enemies have formed some kind of secret society of super villains."

"Which means the attack on Metropolis is only the beginning." Mio said.

"Got that Right." Robin said, looking at a computer screen he had pulled up. "Those plants have sprouted in major cities all over the world."

Suddenly, the feed was cut short, and the Joker appeared on the screen. He tapped the glass for a moment, "Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this important announcement." He turned to camera to show a small group of people, "From the injustice league."

The man in the middle with white hair spoke up, "We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them, a ransom of ten billion American dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the united nations. There is not time limit, but, the more time your governments hesitate…"

The Joker turned to camera back to him, "The more we get to have our… jollies!" He broke off into laughter, and then the video cut off.

Batman talked into his com link, "Roger that Wolverine, tell them to prepare the ransom as a fall back, but it wont come to that." He stressed. He looked up at Mio, "He says Laura will be staying confined in the X-mansion throughout this battle. The plant's give off her 'key scent'."

"So that's what I smelled." Mio said. When everyone looked confused, she explained "When she was created, they made her so that when she smelled a certain scent, she attacked everything and everyone around her, until the scent had run it's course."

Robin pulled up the picture of the Injustice league, "Count Vertigo, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Ultra Humanite, Atomic Skull, Black Atom, Wotan, and some guy I don't know." Robin said, indicating the man that stood next to Atomic Skull and in front of Wotan. He had a black mow hawk, blue eyes, and a cocky smirk on his face.

"I know him." Mio said, "His name's Daken, I've brawled with him a few times."

"Great." Robin said, "Eight heavy hitters, probably behind nearly everyone we've faced."

"There's your secret society." Wally said.

"Not so secret anymore." Artemis pointed out.

"Perhaps after India, they thought we would devise the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer." Kaldur offered.

"Yeah, well that was their mistake, right now, I say we got kick some plant creature butt!" Wally said, eager to go.

"The Justice League and the X-men will handle the plants." Batman shot down, "I have a different job for this team."

"Oh man." Wally complained.

Artemis punched him. "Ow."

"With the plants attacking so many locations simultaneously, there must be a central control system." Batman explained. "You're mission is to destroy it."

"You realize what you're really asking them to do." Zutana said with worry.

"They're ready." Batman argued.

"Ready?" Wally asked. "Ready for what?"

Artemis hit him again, "Hello Wally, if the big guns are fighting plants, who do you think we'll be fighting?"

"I don't know! I guess we'll-" Artemis pointed to the screen showing the injustice League, "Oh."

Zutana turned to Batman, "Well Batman, I trust you are correct."

"I trust you can locate the enemy." Batman said.

"Indeed." He said.

**IN THE BIO SHIP**

"So, why are you coming with us?" Conner asked Mio as they flew across in the bio ship.

"Don't want me around?" She joked, "Actually, it's because of the man, Daken. I don't like the idea of sending you into a fight he's a part of unless I'm with you."

"He's that bad?" Conner asked.

"Worse than anyone you've faced." Mio said, and then turned away.

Conner had never seen her uniform before, Black combat boots, black leather pants, a tight leather sleeveless shirt that he had no idea how she actually got to fit, not that she was fat, she was actually really toned, but the leather just hugged her so tight… he shook those thoughts away, and looked at her mask. She pulled it up over her head, tucking her hair in. It was a cowl, like Batman's, but the ears were different, more like Wolverine's mask. Black leather gloves completed the outfit, they had an opening for her middle finger claws to push through, and two more opening on the bottom of each wrist.

Conner cleared his throat, "Uh, Mio-"

"We're on a mission, it's Hell Hound now." She said firmly.

"Right, but-"

Megan suddenly groaned, "What's wrong?" Wally asked.

"A little dizzy," Megan sighed, frowning deeply.

"Whoa, flyers get airsick?" Robin raised a brow.

"That's ironic," Wally noted.

"Not me. Her."

"Uh, I feel fine," Mio replied.

"No. _Her._"

"Me?" Artemis turned in her seat to face Jeanne.

"No!" she sighed in frustration. "This ship! She's trying to shield us, but-"

The ship suddenly lurched violently, and everyone clung to the edge of their seats desperately. The ship was hit again, and it fell, toppling and sinking into swampy water. Everyone groaned, trying to figure out what had happened.

Megan cringed in sudden pain as a hole was torn open on the ceiling. Black Atom stuck his face into the ship. "He's hurting her!"

Large plant vines wrapped themselves around the ship, dragging them deeper into the water. Artemis dug around in her pockets, "No. No way am I drowning three missions in a row!"

She placed a mouth-breather on her lips and held on out to Wally. "Wow, uh...thanks."

Mio smirked at that.

Conner turned to Megan, "We need to get out, open a hatch."

"Hello Megan! Of course."

Megan opened a hole in the bottom of the ship. _Out! Everyone out!_ Aqualad urged.

They all swan out quickly, and them stumbled onto dry land as the ship sank. "She's in shock." Megan said, referring to the ship. "She'll need some time to recover."

Everyone suddenly collapsed in pain, as Count Vertigo stood over them. Oppressing them with his telepathy.

"Vertigo." Kid Flash groaned.

"Count Vertigo to you, peasant."

Superboy tried to get up and punch Vertigo, but Black Atom swooped in, slamming him down painfully.

Aqualad grabbed water from the lake, hurling it at Vertigo and sending him back.

_Robin, Miss Martian, disappear! We will keep them busy, fulfill the mission objective._ Kaldur told them telepathically.

They did so, and then the fight began.

**WITH THE INJUSTICE LEAGUE:**

Joker laughed as he made the plant creatures attack the helpless cities. Hero's tried to fend him off, but time was taking it's toll. Soon, he will crush them.

Poison Ivy leaned on the central plant, rubbing it with the affection of a mother, Daken standing next to her. "So you like plants?"

"As the name would suggest." Ivy retorted.

Daken was silent, just staring at her as she talked to the Joker, her costume showing just enough skin to tease the eyes of onlookers. "Nice costume." He said, smirking.

"Thanks, _where _is your's?" She asked.

"I don't wear a costume." He said, looking down at his black pants and dark red shirt. "I've tried, but it just isn't me."

She paused, "So, you said that an X-man is now working with the covert team Young Justice?"

"That's right."

"Which one?" She asked, "There's a good amount of X-men out there."

"You know Wolverine, right?" Daken asked her.

"Yeah, saw him drop off the Joker with Batman once at Arkum." She said. "He's the one working with them?"

"No, the girl who looks like a smaller version of him." He explained, using his hands to imitate the way the mask looked.

"Oh, that one." Ivy said. "I've seen her once on the news with the other X-men, stopping a few brotherhood members from terrorizing a city park." Ivy looked worried, and Daken noticed.

"Leave her to me." He smirked.

WITH YOUNG JUSTICE:

Count Vertigo and Black Atom glared down a the unconscious teenagers, "Three are missing." Count Vertigo spat.

Hell Hound watched from the tree line, sinking into the shadows. _Sorry guys, but for this plan to work, I can't be captured._ She followed them silently as Count vertigo and Black Atom took them away. _Time for a little family reunion! You hear that Daken? I'm coming for you._

She saw the bio ship flying up above and a sudden thought struck her.

**AT THE INJUSTICE LEAGUE:**

Megan turned to Robin as he dodged an attack, _Robin, she's made contact!_

_Artemis?_ Robin asked.

_No._ Megan said, smirking.

The bio ship suddenly appeared, and Hell Hound jumped out, Falling right onto the glowing cage containing her friends. She kicked Count Vertigo off, and then jumped at Wotan, stabbing right through the hand he was using to create the cage.

He screamed, and dropped the cage, making Hell Hound and the rest fall, while the Bio ship shoved Black Atom as hard as it could. Black Atom regained his balance, and grabbed Count Vertigo.

"Not me!" He protested, "Stop those delinquents!"

Hell Hound grabbed Artemis as they fell, since she was the only won who had not regained consciousness.

"This is gonna hurt." Mio mumbled, as they hit the ground together, Mio breaking Artemis' fall, hurting herself in the process.

They slowly stood up, Mio wincing as her ribs cracked back into place, "Thanks." Artemis said, having come to when they fell.

"Pain." Mio choked out, blood leaking out of her mouth. She wiped it away, taking a deep breath as Conner glanced up, catching Ultra-Humanite's gaze. "I hate monkeys."

Mio looked up, and shoved Artemis out of the way, as Daken popped his claws, one between the ring finger and pinky, and one between the pointer finger and middle finger on each hand, before Mio could dodge, he sunk his claws into Mio's chest.

Artemis looked up, and gasped at the sight. "Hell Hound! She cried, firing an arrow at Daken. He dodged, yanking Mio with him, his claws still imbedded in her chest.

She groaned, and Daken put her in front of him, smirking at Artemis, "You wanna try that again? Go on, hit her too."

Artemis glared at him, and Mio shrieked as he yanked his claws violently, tearing cardiac muscle, skin, and probably cutting into other internal organs. Through the incredible pain, Mio shouted, "Help Aqualad, I'll be fine!"

She popped her claws, and then stabbed behind her, shoving her claws into Daken's neck. He screamed, and pulled his claws out of her, stumbling back.

They both faced each other as his neck wound healed, and her wounds healed also. Hell Hound looked down at her uniform, the short now had blood on it, and cuts in the leather.

"I'm sending you the bill for this costume. She growled, lunging at him. They both slashed at each other, trying to go for any shot that they could get.

Daken stabbed through her thigh, and she retaliated by shoving her knee into the side of his head as hard as she could.

He grunted, stepping back as she pelted him with blows, but easily dodged every one of them, before sinking both of his claws into each of her shoulders, and then pinning her down after a little difficulty.

"Haven't changed at all." he taunted her, "Still the same weak little girl I met four years ago."

She struggled, but his only twisted his wrists viciously, severing through skin, flesh, and bone.

She screamed, and his smile grew. "Still can't fight, can't even make a mark on me."

Suddenly, he face lit up, and a cocky grin broke out on her face, "Actually, I can."

She used her legs to shove him off of her, and then leapt at him, viciously cutting his face several times before he kicked her away from him. He glared at her, "How did you-"

"You got a false sense of security." She taunted, "And I took advantage of it."

He frowned, "I never do that, I'm always-" Suddenly something occurred to him, and he broke out into a grin, "Oh, pheromone control huh? Another way you're like me."

Mio glared at him, "I'm nothing like you!" She said, lunging at him and their bloody battle continued.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and they both turned to see the plant being blown up, Miss Marian and Robin standing on top of the building.

"Timber." Robin said quietly.

Mio snorted, and turned back to Daken, to find he wasn't there. She paused for a moment, before feeling his claws stabbing into her lower back, and then through her stomach. She screamed, and he yanked them out, tearing through more muscle.

She whirled around, kicking him in the stomach. If only to have Laura's feet claws right now…

He grunted, and then glared at her, and she smirked, "A handful of kids just ruined your team's plan!" He smirked along with her, and she didn't like that.

"I don't care." He said. "Truth be told, only reason I agreed to help was to see you."

"I'm flattered." She spat, trying to hit him again.

He got out of the way, and then grabbed her arms, pinning her down on her stomach, and resting his knee on her back. "Wanted to see how the little cub was doing."

"Stop calling me that!" She snapped.

He jammed his knee into her back harder, "When you can make me stop, I'll stop, cub!"

She shrieked in rage, and he grabbed her mask, yanking it off and jumping away. She stood up immediately, growling at him, "Give it back!"

He chuckled, and tossed the mask to her. She immediately pulled it on, and he shook his head. "Are you that desperate to win Logan's approval? Dressing like him, fighting on his team, living with him, following him around everywhere like a helpless little puppy!" He glared at her, "It's pathetic, not only that, but it's ruining my reputation."

She glared at him, adjusting the mask, "I'm not desperate to win his approval." She snapped, "Unlike some, I actually listen to Wolverine."

He snorted, "Teacher's little pet."

"At least I'm not a spoiled brat trying to get his Daddy's attention by breaking the rules!" She snapped. He slashed at her face, but she blocked easily, and then whirled around in a round house kick, her combat boot colliding with the side of his face easily.

"Look!" She snapped, "If you have nothing against Young Justice, then help us!"

He snorted, "Why would I do that?"

"Because, you're not a villain. You're crazy, you have a **very **dark outlook on life, and the last thing you wanna do is take after Logan's history. But you are **not **a villain." She reasoned, "I don't have to be afraid of you, because you don't want to kill me, if your really telling the truth."

He stared her down, "Prove that you don't have to be afraid of me."

She took a deep breath, and sheathed her claws. She slowly walked over, right in front of him. She glared at him, and then lifted her chin, exposing her neck. "You'll never get a better shot."

He lifted his claws to her neck, and pressed down. Not hard enough to break the skin, but almost. He stared at her, waiting for her to flinch, to whimper, to run and hide like she used to do, but she didn't. He smirked, and then shoved his claws through her neck viciously.

She screamed, yanking back and grabbing her jugular he had sliced open as it poured blood and clear fluid. She collapsed on her knees, coughing up blood as the wound closed up, and the pain faded.

When she looked up, he was gone again. She sniffed, his scent was gone as well. She knew he could just be controlling his pheromones so that he gave off no scent, but she knew, this time he was really gone.

She looked over at the team, to see lightning suddenly strike them, one by one. She jumped up, trying to run over to Wotan and stop him, but she was struck down too.

Just as suddenly as the lightning began it stopped. She heard Wally shout out, "No Aqualad, don't!"

And suddenly, Aqualad was gone, and Dr. Fate was flying up to meet Wotan.

Hell Hound shrank back into the shadows as she watched the other's fight their battles. She could come help, but letting the team depend on someone who couldn't come with them every time they were on a mission. Helping them now would do more harm than good.

She saw the Justice League fly in, and quickly come to their young ward's aid.

"It's over." Batman said as they cornered them, and Hell Hound stepped out.

"There will be another day." Count Vertigo said.

"Another day? Another day! There won't be another day! Not for any of us!" Joker screamed as he wiggled his fingers. Small bulbs sprouted from the vines, releasing thick clouds of gas. Batman slammed his fist into Joker's face, "Joker Venom spores! Don't breathe!"

"Fear not!" Fate shouted. He rose into the air and absorbed the deadly venom into a magical vacuum. The villains stared in shock as Fate gazed down at them. "Fate as intervened!"

After the whole DR. Fate incident was taken care of, Wolverine walked over to Hell Hound. "Where's Daken?"

She glared at the ground, "He got away. Again."

Wolverine chuckled, but everyone could tell he was saddened by that. "No worries kid, you'll get him next time." He put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. For a moment, he looked at her with pride, relief, and love.

That look was all she needed, no words of praise passed between them, simply a look of understanding.

Wolverine was proud she had stood her ground, that she had faced Daken, the one man she feared, without backing down. He was relieved that Daken hadn't hurt her, well, not as much as he had the last time he had gotten a hold of her.

Hell Hound was angry, angry Daken had gotten away. She was scared, facing your worst and only fear can do that to you, make you scared to where the only thing that can help is being with someone who cares abut you.

"Come on kid." Wolverine said, leading her away from every one else. "I had to tie copper top to a chair to keep her form coming with me, and she's gonna want to know everything that happened." He gave her a look, "Just tone down the life threatening parts."

Batman spoke up, "Hell Hound, you and I are going to have a talk tomorrow."

"What did I do?" She whispered to Wolverine as they walked away.

"No clue," Logan said, "Here's some advice, when he **really** starts to wail on ya with the lecturing, just start crying, worked for Jubilee and Kitty loads of times with Cyclops."

Hell Hound glared at him, "Yeah... not gonna happen."


	5. I'm Not Logan!

After telling Lovette and action packed story about the Injustice League, she jumped up on the bed, shouting random things about me being amazing, and how Lovette was going to kick their butts when she got older.

I sighed, "Perhaps I should have waited until tomorrow to tell you that."

Eventually, Lovette did settle down, and I was able to leave her sleeping peacefully, while joining Logan in the kitchen. He had a bear in front of him, meaning we were going to be talking for awhile. I sighed, grabbing a soda and sitting down across from him.

"Alright kid." He said, "Now, what really happened?"

"I told you the truth, he got away. I didn't let him go Logan." I snapped, opening the can.

"I believe you, but, did he say anything that might have tipped off a certain boy with super hearing that you're not who they think you are?" He asked.

I gulped down a few mouthfuls, just trying to get as much of that fizzy sensation over my tongue as I could. I finally stopped, looking up at him, "No. Even if her did, Conner was occupied."

"You're sure?" He asked.

"Yes Logan." I said firmly, "And I haven't told them a single lie since I got there. The only one I talk to is Conner, and he hasn't asked any question that has required a lie yet."

"OK." Logan said, "Look kid, If he does, whether you lie or not is totally up to you. Everyone at the mansion knew about that, and it kind of ruined any chance you had at friends."

"I don't need friends." I insisted. "And even if I did, I wouldn't want them."

"Tough luck." He said, "Cause you already got a whole team full of 'em."

I snorted, "Yeah, no. Lovette has a whole team full of friends."

"Friends are important kid." Logan said sternly.

"Which is why I've been able to get by for fifteen years without any?" I asked innocently.

"One, watch your mouth." He said sternly, "And two, you've only managed to get by for the last four years, and the ten years before that, because of help from me, or your Mom."

He gave me a stern glare, "Your family isn't in Happy Harbor right now."

"Uh, thank God for that." I pointed out. "Daken, Sabertooth, Wild Child, Romulus-"

"I get it." He snapped. "Point is, you need friends."

"Yeah, you forgot that one year I got by without any." I sassed.

"One year." He said firmly. "And you weren't in the best of situations. Need I remind you how you got these?" he asked, grabbing my wrist, and shaking it pointedly.

"OK." I said, yanking my arm back. "I get it, and I do have friends."

"Yeah, name one." He said.

"Lovette."

"Doesn't count, she's your sister."

"Not by blood!" I snapped.

"If you ever say that again I'll slap you silly." He said sternly. "Name one."

"You."

"Family doesn't count."

"Kitty."

"She's your computer teacher."

"Rouge." I offered, remember the southern red head who should be just about waking up over in New York.

"She's also a teacher." He pointed out.

"Jubilee."

Wolverine was silent for a moment, I knew pulling her name was a dirty blow. Jubilee wasn't exactly herself anymore. After the incidents of M-day, Jubilee had lost her powers, along with almost all mutants. If I still considered myself a mutant, I'd be part of a dying breed.

Jubilee's trauma hadn't ended there, after a lot of drama, she was turned into a vampire, and hadn't been able to control herself. She had even tried to turn Logan into one, if it wasn't for his healing factor, he'd have fangs right now too.

Jubilee had actually managed to remain some what normal after a lot of rehabilitation, and frequently injecting herself with Wolverine's blood, she managed to fight off the less desirable traits of a vampire, like blood thirst.

The bond Logan and Jubilee had was nothing like my bond with him. We might be close, but Jubilee was his daughter. Not by blood, but I guess she is to Logan what Lovette is to me. They aren't related by blood, but that just makes the bond between them that much stronger.

Wolverine finally said, "She's family, doesn't count."

I knew better than to say not by blood, not just because he would slap me, but because I knew that didn't mean anything.

"Bobby."

Wolverine growled, "For the last time, **teacher**."

"Okay!" I said, "I get it, I have no friends that live up to your standards."

I crossed my arms, leaning back in the chair.

He nodded in victory. "Well, I'll be going then." He got up to leave, and then turned back around to me. "You remember what I said, lying is all up to you."

I just shook my head, "Those kids can't take anymore lies."

He just shrugged, and left.

**THE NEXT DAY DR:**

When Batman said he wanted to talk to me, what he asked me was the last thing I expected.

"Black Canary is no longer able to keep staying at the cave with the team. With Red Tornado gone, you're the obvious choice as a replacement."

"… What?" I asked.

"You heard me." He said, "Your progress with Conner has been satisfactory, and the team needs someone to help."

"They need someone else." I said firmly, looking over my shoulder to see Lovette horsing around with Kid Flash and Wolf. I turned back to him, "Look, I'm a combat instructor, I already have one kid to baby sit, I don't need six more!"

He glared at me, "Can you honestly call them that?"

"Hmm, let's see." I looked over my shoulder again to see Lovette riding on Artemis' shoulders.

"Come on Arty, I was playing with her first!" Wally complained. Wolf barked in agreement.

I turned back to him. "Yes."

"Conner?" He asked.

"To wrapped up in his own issues and minor problems to see the light of day." I said.

"A deadbeat Dad is a pretty bad problem." He said. "Which I'm sure you know a lot about."

I glared up at him, "What are you talking about?"

He just leaned a little closer. "I know."

I growled, "Shut up!"

"Your problems are very similar to Conner's, which is why I was hesitant about bringing you in." He said, "But, you've shown me that you're more than capable of taking care of others yourself." He looked pointedly at Lovette.

I snorted, "Yeah, four years old and she's seen me kill three people." I looked back up at him, "You still gonna tell me I'm the baby sitter of the year?"

"You took her away from a facility that was going to experiment on hr as if she was a lab rat, and gave her a home with you and Logan. You constantly go out of your way to make sure she's kept away from any more violence." Batman said firmly. "You could have sent her back to the Xavier Institute with Logan, but you didn't. You kept her with you."

"Another mistake." I argued.

"A protective instinct." He verified. "Something you inherited from Logan."

"Something I inherited form my **father**." I spat. "Animal instinct, another thing keeping me from being human."

He glared at me, "These kids need your help. Just like you needed Logan's."

"Then get Logan over here!" I said, exasperated. "They need someone who can be there for them, and I'm not Logan."

He was fazed, "You're more like him than you think. Just do for them what Logan did for you." He held up a small piece of paper, "And of course with the higher position, there's more pay."

I took the paper, looking over the increased salary. "Ugh, fine!" I spat.

"I'll announce it to the team soon, for now, you might wanna go get ice for Lovette." He said.

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

Suddenly, there was the sound of a body hitting the floor. "MIO!"

I turned around, to see Lovette had fall off Artemis' shoulders and onto the ground.

I rushed over, picking her up, "She, it's Okay Lovette." I looked her over, "Just a few bruises, nothing to bad."

Artemis turned to me, "I'm sorry Mio, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay." I assured. "She's been through a lot more." I reached into my pocket, and pulled out a small wooden carving of a dragon, "Here ya go." I said, handing it to Lovette.

I didn't have her blue teddy bear with me, the trinket would have to do.

Wally suddenly appeared with ice wrapped up in a rag. "Here ya go." He offered.

I took it, pressing it to Lovette's forehead. "Thanks."

Conner came in, holding his ears, "What's that noise?" He asked.

Lovette sniffed, and he looked at the scene in front of him. "Oh."

**LATER ON, DEBREIFING:**

Batman turned to the team, "Mio will be replacing Red Tornado as your guardian here."

Megan smiled, "Really?"

Wally spoke up, "That mean's Lovette with be here more, right?"

"Yes." Batman said, answering both questions.

Conner spoke up, "What about Red Tornado?"

"The League will take care of the situation, until then, enjoy your new guardian." Batman dismissed.

**LATER, IN THE LIVING ROOM:**

Mio walked into the room, seeing the team gathered around the TV, watching some DR. Phil show. She walked in front of them, grabbing the remote, and turning it off.

"Aw." Wally complained.

"Fine." Mio said, "I'm gonna go ahead and tell you how it ends. Dr Phil says," Mio started talking slowly, and making to many hand gestures, "And how, is that, working out, for you? Then the big fat lady cries, the end."

She cleared her throat, "Now, I'm sure your all wonder why I accepted the position of den mother here considering my disdain for… well… all of you." She said, looking around and failing to see anyone protesting that fact.

"Now, golden question, is it the extra fifty dollars in my pay check, or is it the fact I finally get the chance to take all the things I hate about you, your sloppy fighting, your constant joking, you immaturity, and get rid of them in order to help you better yourselves and to guarantee you can survive in this crazy battle ground, no, war, that we call life, and the possibility that I don't hate you and everything I've ever said to suggest I do is really just my way of making you stronger?"

Everyone paused, and Megan smiled, "The second option?"

She shook her head, "It's all about the fifty dollars, trust me."

Anyone who had looked hopeful quickly lost the emotion. "And considering my pay check is depending on you six actually doing well on missions, I'd say it's about time for you to scurry of to training, so I can continue to afford the anti depressants that keep my so happy and care free."

Everyone stared at her, not sure exactly what to make of what she had just said.

"GO!" She snapped, and they all ran out, not wanting to be left alone with the crazy feral girl.


	6. A New Guest And An Old Enemy

I frowned, watching the kids spar, they had made progress I suppose, but it wasn't really in my nature to point out good things. In my opinion, it didn't help anyone, being degraded and told you weren't good enough, that's what helped me actually _learn _to fight.

Artemis flipped Robin over her shoulder, gaining ten points from the computer. Robin swung his leg at Kaldur's feet who jumped up just in time. He kicked his leg out, but Robin blocked it.

I stepped closer, "OK Barbie, stance is sloppy, keep that in mind. Fishy, your to slow, I realize it's easier for you to move in water, but still, to slow."

Conner spoke up, "When are we sparring?"

"Later." I answered, when he looked disappointed, I said, "As soon as they're done, we can."

He looked a little more satisfied, and nodded.

"OK listen up all you available subjects that I use to vent my inhumanly wrath on whenever you're within grabbing distance, you've actually managed to improve slightly, but honestly it's not enough. The only way any of you could be more useless is if you were the floor." I snapped.

"More so than any of us, Kid Molingerer," Artemis gestured to Wally.

Wally sat in a recliner with a lemonade in his hand, "Hey, arm broken in battle against the Injustice League here."

I shook my head, "Despite all of the headaches you give me when you can't shut up, I think I've actually enjoyed watching you take what little fighting knowledge you have and making complete and utter fools of yourself in the arena."

I turned towards Megan, "Whenever I see you throw a punch, it's so awful and pathetic, I am actually tempted to cry for the first time in a year."

Wally laughed, "So you have cried before!"

"Keep it up, and I'll make you cry by stomping on one of your less vital, but severally painful when treated with said action, appendages." I threatened.

"Recognized...Zatara, 11."

Zatara stepped out of the teleporter, moving his cane casually as he walked. "And here's our guest." I said.

Zatara quickly typed a code into the keyboard. "Access Granted. Zatanna Zatara, T03. Authorization: Zatara, 11."

The teleporter light up, bringing in a young girl. Zatara introduced her, "Zatanna, this is the team. Team, my daughter, Zatanna."

The girl approached the team slowly. Megan flew down in front of her, "Hi, I'm-"

"Robin!" Robin appeared in between them. "I mean, I'm Robin. She's Megan. That's Wally, Kaldur, and Conner."

"Welcome to the Cave," Kaldur nodded to her.

"Uh, thanks," Zatanna smiled nervously.

"So, uh, ar-are you joining the team?" Robin asked.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is strictly a visit," Zatara took off his hat, and turned to Me. "I am sorry we missed the training. It's something Zatanna could benefit from."

"No worries." I said, smirking and crossing my arms, "When she joins this team, I'll make sure she gets enough beneficial interaction." I smirked at the girl, athletic body type, attitude said she was a bit unsure and self conscious.

I would have fun making her do three sets of twenty-five push ups, and then eight laps around the mountain, just to warm up. She raised an eyebrow at me, and then shrugged, not knowing what else to do. She turned her attention back to the team.

I turned to Zatara, and he smiled at me, "Well, if the time comes, I know she'll be on good hands."

"Have we met before?" I asked, curious.

"No, but I have ran into Logan several times, and was blessed enough to watch him put a few children through a danger room session." He said.

"Well." I said, crossing my arms across my chest and smiling at him, "My methods are a bit different."

"How so?" He asked, curious.

"I'm not as easy going when it comes to waking some skills into a few new recruits." I said smirking. The joke was simple, in the danger room, Logan was Satan.

Suddenly, Zatanna spoke up, "Are you guys having a telepathic conversation? Cause I can't decide if that's cool or just really rude."

I turned to the team, "Megan what were you all talking about?"

She turned to me, "Uh, we were just… um, thinking about, taking her on a tour?"

I frowned, turning to Conner, "Real answer please, Conner?"

"All right, fine. We were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack. The League hasn't told us anything." He snapped, I could tell he didn't like it, this was his team, Tornado had betrayed them, and he was frustrated he wasn't being allowed to go give Red Tornado a few good sized dents.

"I'm told the League is searching for Tornado," I said, trying to explain. "As well as the other androids, and their creator: T.O. Morrow. Batman's made tracking them down their highest priority."

"But they've found none of the above," Robin retorted.

"Says you," I took a few steps toward the them, "Tornado is Justice League. He's not your responsibility."

"Not our concern?" Conner growled at her. "He hurt Meg- us! She attacked us and the League! And you're doing nothing?"

"I never said we were. However, there are certain..._wishes _I have to follow," I glared at him, straightening up and not moving, "Now drop the subject before I become _very _annoyed."

Zatara stepped in between them, "Why-why don't you take Zatanna on a...tour of the, uh...Cave...?"

Everyone glanced around, seeing her gone. Robin turned around, finding Zatanna leaning on Wolf as she scratched the back of his ears. Wolf got up as Captain Marvel walked in with a plate of nachos, "You're giving a tour? Cool!"

"Actually, I was hoping you'd take Wolf outside," Conner suggested. "He needs the exercise. We'll be there in a minute."

"Sure, sure," Marvel nodded and ran off down the hall. "Come on, Wolf."

"What about my nachos?" Wally's shoulders slumped. Conner grabbed his shirt and dragged him out of the room.

I bit my lip slightly, and turned to look at Zatanna, I knew exactly what they were going to do. I would have done the same.

Zatanna struck up a conversation with me, asking me about the X-men and about Lovette. "Will she be joining the X-men as well?"

"Tell you what." I said, smiling. "I'll start her initiation into the X-men when you let your daughter join this team."

He shook his head, "She's not ready for such a challenge."

I chuckled, "No matter how long you make her wait, she's going to make mistakes. I can't tell you how many times I got into a tough spot, even died a few times before I got it right."

I walked over to the computer, and started typing in random things. "I can assure you, when you let her join, I will never let them take her on a mission I doubt she's ready for, and if I don't think she is, I'll go with them, and I'll hand cuff her to me if it would make you feel better."

He sighs, "I will think about it."

I glanced at the computer and frowned. "That's weird."

"What is?" Zatara asked.

I pressed a key, "M'gann, the bio-ship wasn't authorized for departure."

"We're kidnapping Zatanna," Megan's voice beamed through the speakers. "Err, to show her Happy Harbor. Be back soon!"

"Roger that. Have fun," I turned off the screen.

"I did not give permission for-"

"They're good kids, Giovanni. Trust me, nothing's gonna happen," I assured him. _Wonder how long I can keep him convinced?_

Hours past, and finally, he couldn't take it anymore, and the figured out what had really happened.

"She's grounded for life!" Zatara bellowed. "...'they're good kids, Giovanni'…'trust me, Giovanni'. She's never joining team!"

I glanced back down the hall as a wet Captain Marvel walked in with Wolf. "Um, are they coming out to play or what?"

I sighed, "I'm gonna kill those kids…"

I looked at the clock, "Yeah, yell at her when she gets back if you want, I've gotta go pick up Lovette from day care."

I said a little prayer for the magicians kid, and then rocketed off on my motorcycle.

By the time I got to the daycare, it was already getting dim. I pulled up, walking inside. Lovette was standing there, looking a little scared. "Mio." She ran over to me, grabbing onto my leg.

I immediately knelt down next to her, "What happened?"

"I saw **him**." She whispers.

The way she says him, it makes me get scared. I know exactly who she's talking about.

"Where?" I ask.

"On the other side of the street." She says, "He was watching me while I played at recess."

I stand up, checked her out at the secretaries desk, and walk outside with her, "Over there?" I ask, pointing across the street.

"No." She says, pointing to an area closer to the playground. "There."

I walked over, taking a big sniff of the area. I couldn't pick up his scent at all. He must have been using his pheromones to make it so he had no scent at all. I cursed under my breath, made sure Lovette hadn't heard me, and then loaded her onto my bike.

I sped home, ordered pizza for Lovette, and made sure she was distracted by eating while I grabbed my phone, dialing Logan's number.

"Yeah, what?" He asked.

"Normally I'd make some kind of smart alec remark to that, but we've got trouble." I said.

"What is it kid?" He asked, now fully aware of the situation.

"**He **was here." I whispered. "He went to Lovette's daycare, and he watched while she had recess."

"Did he do anything to her?" He asked.

"No, he never even walked up to her, just let her know he was watching." I said, rubbing my eyes, this was going to be a long week.

"What do you want to do?" He asked.

"Lovette needs to go **back **to the mansion, **tonight**." I said.

"You sure about that?" He asked.

"Positive." I said. "He wasn't even interested in me, didn't come to the apartment, didn't leave a message at all. He's turning his head towards her now, trying to get to me."

"Well, I can't drive out there and get Lovette tonight." Logan said, "I can pick her up tomorrow night."

"I'll keep her at the apartment." I told him, "And I'll control my pheromones to make it smell like I took her with me to the cave."

"Why not just take her with you?" He asked.

"I would." I growled, "But Speedy let her watch some stupid horror movie where a bunch of people die in a cave and now she won't go anywhere near it."

He chuckled, "I'll be out there tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll make sure he can't touch her."

I sighed in relief. "Thanks Logan."

"No worries." He said, "Should I pick you up too?"

"No, if I stay in Happy Harbor, so will his attention. Hopefully." I prayed. "And I can't go, if I do the team will get dumped with Canary or Zatanna, they'll be miserable."

"Okay, you stay in Happy Harbor, I'll take care of Lovette. Now, if he comes for you, run."

"I'm tired of running from him." I complained, "Every time I start to get happy, he's here to ruin my life and destroy everything I've tried to build up."

"Would you rather fight him?" Logan asked.

"No." I said, "Last time it really hurt."

"Good, now just keep Lovette happy until tomorrow." He said, "I'll see you soon."

I nodded, "Okay."

"Love you kid." He said.

"Miss you Logan." I said, hanging up.

I looked back into the kitchen, where Lovette was chugging down Coke and gobbling pizza. I just lost my appetite for cheap American food.

Lovette eventually passed out, and I cleaned up the house, before crawling into bed.

He was here, ready to mess up my life again. To take every thing I cared about and make me watch as he burned it to the ground.

I shook my head, "Not this time Daken."


	7. Nightmare

I screamed as men ran into the house, men with guns. They shouted things in a language I didn't understand, but I could tell they weren't happy. Moy mother stood up from the breakfast table, shouting things in the same language they were speaking. I should have been suspicious, I had never heard my mother speak any language other than Japanese, or a little Chinese when arguing with a foreign merchant.

They ignored her, and one of the men, the one standing in front, shoved her to the side, as if she were an animal he didn't have time for.

"Haha!" _Mother!_ I screamed, jumping up, and backing away from the men.

Two other men grabbed my mother's arms, pulling her a few feet towards the far wall.

The first man turned to me, and I slowly backed up, shaking slightly, not understanding this. What was going on? Who were these men?

The man looked down at me, and said something in the strange language. "Ostanovite plakatʹ!"

I winced at his angry tone, "Nandesuka? Watashi wa rikai shite inai?" _What? I don't understand._

They rushed at me, grabbing my arms, trying to drag me out the door. My mother screamed at them, begging them to leave me alone, to take her instead. They paid her no heed.

"Mama! Watashi o tasukete! Te kudasai!" _Mama! Help me! Please!_ I screamed, thrashing around and trying to get free. A ten year old's struggles don't amount much to two fully grown, very strong men.

A woman stepped foreword, smiling, and said something in the same language as the man.

"Nanda?" _what? _I asked weakly.

She smirked down at me, and asked, "Dekinai no wa anata ga eigo o hanasu?" _Can't you speak English?_I glared daggers at her, "Watashi o baka ni yame nasai! Aku no josei dake de o makase kudasai!" _Stop taunting me! Leave us alone evil woman!_

She smirked more, and turned to the men who were trying to hold down my mother as she struggled to reach me. She snorted, and said "Anata ga jissai ni wa korera subete no hito o tatakau koto ga dekiru to omoimasu ka? Awarena, anata dake de futsū no ningen. Anata no musume-san wa betsu no mondai no entirleydesu." _You think you an fight all those men? Pathetic, your just a regular human, your daughter is a different matter entirely._

I struggled against the men as they tried to pull me into a big truck they had come out of.

"Mama!" _Mother!_

"Watashi wa mio o oshieta oboete iru! Zugatakai hōrudo!" _Remember what I taught you Mio! Hold your head high!_ She cried out to me.

The woman said something to the men holding my mother in the strange language, and then one of them let go of her, and took out his gun.

"Nai!" _No!_ I yelled, trying to break free of the men.

Mother just smiled at me, "Subete ga buji ni naru, watashi wa anata o aishite!" _Everything will be alright. I love you!_

The one with his gun pointed it at my mother, and then shot her. I heard that shot better than I had heard anything in my entire life. It wasn't like in the books I had read, where everything goes in slow motion as the hero of the story is thrust into the saddest part of his life. One second I saw him aim the gun, and as fast as lightning, the gun went off. The next second, my mother's head was covered with blood.

"Nai!" I screamed, jumping up in bed, screaming and thrashing out at the air in front of me.

I panted, gasping for breath, and looked around. No men, no guns, no blood. I felt stinging pain in my arms, and looked don to see all my claws sticking out. One from each middle finger knuckle, and two on the bottom of each wrist. I shivered, pulling them back into my skin.

I fell back down on the bed, I felt wet, so I ran a hand over my arm. I had broken into a cold sweat somewhere in the middle of that dream.

I shivered again, curling into a ball. I hated that dream, not just because I had it nearly every night, but because it wasn't a dream. It was a memory.

I looked at the clock, two in the morning. I groaned again, and got out of bed, knowing I couldn't go back to sleep. I got dressed in my X-men uniform, but left the mask off for awhile, just until I was ready to go. I remembered the day Storm had given that mask to me.

**Storm handed me the box, "And along with the traditional leather outfit, I thought this would be appropriate."**

**I had put on the leather outfit already, I wasn't sure what could be in the small box, but when I pulled out the tight leather mask, I looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.**

**She smiled, "Try it on."**

**I shrugged, pulling on the tight leather mask. I fiddled with the front of it until I could see clearly and breath well. I wiggled my face muscled a little, trying to get used to the feeling of the leather hugging my face.**

**Storm smiles, "It looks a lot better than I thought."**

**I turned towards the mirror, to see what the mask really looked like. Spitting image of Logan's, but all black, and the ears not as big. I was about to turn around and tell her, **_**Not even if you paid me!**_** but Logan walked in, and saw the mask. The minute he smiled, I knew I would be entering a losing battle.**

And nearly five years later, I wear it every day. I used to hate it, one more reason for people to think I'm just like Logan. Nothing ticked me off more than that. I was not like Logan, I was different, and no one has the right to judge me by Logan's reputation.

I have no reputation other than: She's with Logan.

I've been with the X-men for more than four years, and _that _is my reputation, it isn't even a real reputation!

I sighed, grabbing a protein bar and a glass of water and sat down, slowly eating my early breakfast.

Lovette woke up about half an hour later, she always got up early. I sighed, "Lovette, you have to go visit Logan for awhile."

She looked u at me, smiling, "OK, how long are we gonna be there?"

I took a deep breath, "Not us, just you."

She paused, her smile falling, "But, Mio… I wanna stay with you."

"Lovette." I said firmly, "It's only going to be a little while."

"No!" She protested, "I wanna stay with you!"

"Lovette," I began, "Daken is watching you no, and I've warned you what would happen if he showed up here."

"You never said you'd get rid of me!" She yelled.

"I'm not getting rid of you." I explained, "I'm protecting you."

"No you're not!" She yelled. "You're sending me away! I don't wanna go!"

"Lovette." I growled, "Enough. When you're ready to talk to me like an adult-"

"I'm not an adult!" She shrieked. "I'm a kid! And I want to stay with my big sister!"

I froze, for a long time I just sat there, thinking about what she said.

I stood up, "OK." I grabbed my mask and walked to the front door. "You're right. You are just a child."

I pulled the mask on, "Stay here for the day, I'll be back later tonight."

I left the apartment, and headed to the cave. I walked in, finding no one was awake. Around three in the morning, remember?

I walked down the hall to Conner's room, and then quietly slipped in. He was sleeping soundly, making slight noises that varied from moans, or just quiet mumbles that even I couldn't understand. They gave the impression he was having a restless sleep.

"Conner." I said in an average tone.

He didn't respond, just kept sleeping. I stepped closer to the bed, "Conner, wake up."

Wolverine used to do this to me, wake me up at random hours of the night and dragging me into the danger room for a two hour session.

One in the morning + danger room session + two hours = me trying to murder Logan when he lets me out.

I put a hand on his shoulder, "Conner, wake up." I said a bit more forcefully.

He groaned again, arm flapping out lazily and bumping my stomach gently. Aggravated, I shoved his shoulder forcefully.

His arm immediately wrapped around my waist, tugging me down onto the bed on top of him.

My eyes bulged, and I went stiff. He rolled over in the bed, so now he was laying sideways, holding me like Lovette held her teddy bear. He mumbled again, but this time, it didn't sound like he was restless, he sounded content now.

My face went red, and I finally snapped out of the shock. I planted my hands on his shoulders, and my feet against his knees, and then shoved him for all I was worth.

He fell off the bed, onto the floor. I jumped up on the bed, standing straight, and really not caring if I got dirt on his mattress. The little closet pervert!

He sat bolt right up, "What- where… Mio?"

"Mask." I reminded.

"Hell Hound." He said dryly. "What… what are you doing here?"

"Early morning training session." I said, smirking, "We're doing survival training, outside. And you're real lucky, it rained last night."

He pauses, still not sure exactly what was going on. "How is that-"

"Move!" I snap, and he jumps up, running out the door with me hot on his heels.

I chase him out of the base and into the woods, stalking him for awhile as he tried to figure out where I am, then attacking him. This goes on for around twenty minutes, I think that we'll be doing this until morning.

I jump in for the tenth attack, and he grabs my leg, slams me down on the ground hard, and then does it again, and again, and again.

He stops, letting me go, and I don't move, the pain was just to much.

Pain coursed throughout my body, from broken bones, mostly ribs, and bruises. I gasped in pain, rolling over, and holding my ribs as they snapped back into place.

I heard a slight rustle, and next thing I know, he's kneeling next to me, watching and listening as the bones heal and bruises fade.

As soon as the last rib snaps back into place, I throw my fist at his face, and he rolls out of the way. I run at him, trying to kick him in the face, but he dodges. He throws his leg up to kick me, but the ground is wet, and he slips, falling on his butt.

He jumps up, but before he can do anything, I'm flying at his face, knee first.

He screams as he falls down, holding onto his nose as blood squirts out. My eyes widen, he isn't used to this pain.

I walk over to him, kneeling down next to him, and I carefully put my hands over his, "It's OK, I didn't break it."

He paused as I pull his hands away, and carefully feel along his nose. He winces, but doesn't turn away.

I nod, and then stand up, "We're done fighting for today. For now, push ups."

He paused, not used to this kind of training from me, but does it anyway, getting into position. He does them effortlessly, not even hesitating, his strength allowing him to do it without fail.

I barked orders in his ear, shouting things like 'faster!' 'Is that the most you can do?' 'Its only been half an hour, you can't be tired yet!'

I stood on his back as he entered forty minutes of nonstop push ups, growling at him and barking orders like a drill sergeant.

After push ups, we did something I had wanted to do since I saw all those Star Wars movies.

He panted, running through the muddy terrain with me clinging to his back. "How does this help?"

"It doesn't, it makes it a lot harder." I explained.

He was sweating heavily, clearly not used to twenty laps around the mountain. "How did you hurt my nose that easily?"

"Adamantium." I answered.

"I thought only your claws were made out of that." he said, speeding up a little.

"Wolverine had all his bones replaced with Adamantium, Daken only has his claws, and the people who fixed me up with the family tradition put it on a my knee caps, elbows, and the front and back of my skull. Other than that, it is only my claws." I explained. "Ten more laps and you can call it a day.

"How much can your healing factor do?" He asked, running as fast as he could, just wanting to be done with it.

"Any wound it can heal." I said, "If you were to cut off my arm, I could just stick it back on, and it would heal. There's only a few ways to kill people like us. One way, we think it would work, is to cut off our head, and then burn either our body, or head."

He ran faster, only nine laps left. "Have you ever tried it?"

"I want to do it to Daken really bad, but he's a better fighter than me. I was never able to do it." I explained, "Training with you has helped though, I've gotten better at dealing with pain, and even though you're supposed to be the one benefiting from this, I think I am too."

He smiled, "Good to know."

He finished up the rest of the laps, and then we headed inside. Three hours had past, and Megan was up now, she had made breakfast, which Conner quickly wolfed down.

"What on Mars did you have him doing out there?' Megan asked.

"You don't want to know." I said, cutting out the chance of her getting mad at me again for hurting Conner. I know she liked him, every one did except for Wally because he's an idiot. She was a good kid, he was a good kid beneath all that rage. They were good for each other.

"Is Lovette here?" She asked.

I frowned, staring at the floor, "No, she's staying a the apartment today."

Conner looked up from his food, "Why?"

I sighed, "OK, you guys deserve the truth." I took a deep breath, "Yesterday, Daken went to Lovette's school while she was at recess. He didn't attack her or anything, he just let her know he was watching. So, I'm keeping her home today, and tonight, she's going back to the mansion."

Megan, looking sad, nodded, "I guess that's what needs to happen, when is she coming back?"

"The minute Logan man's up and kills Daken." I said.

She looked shocked, "Kill him?"

"It's the only way to stop him." I said, "Can't just put in him jail, he'll get out."

"But, we're hero's, we're not allowed to kill people." She debated.

"One, there are exceptions to every rule. Two, I don't consider myself a hero, and I know Logan doesn't." I said.

"She'll come visit, right?" Conner asked.

"I can't risk it." I shot down, "Daken will stop at nothing to make my life hell, even going after those closest to me. Lovette's staying at the X-mansion, until Daken's dead."

Conner nodded, "Are you going too?"

"No, he'll follow me." I said, "I have to stay here, keep him interested in me, so Lovette isn't in danger."

Conner smiled, "Good."

I raised an eyebrow at that, and he dropped the smile. "Good that Lovette will be safe, that's what I meant."

I nodded, "OK."

The day past slow, eventually the other's showed up, but I wasn't really paying attention to training them, and they noticed. Conner explained to them what was going on, and they pretty much left me alone about it.

Eventually, it got dark out, so I headed back to my apartment, and they all wanted to come with me to say goodbye to Lovette.

So, we took the Bio ship.

Logan was already there, standing outside the apartment door. "She won't let me in." He explained.

"Of course not." I mumbled, taking out my key and unlocking the door. "Lovette?"

"Go away!" She protested.

I walked in sighing, "Lovette, come out. Everyone's waiting to say goodbye."

"No!" She yelled, "I don't wanna leave!"

"And what do you plan to do when Daken kidnaps you?" I asked.

"Wait until you rescue me." She said.

I walked into the room she was yelling from, my bedroom. "Lovette, it doesn't work like that." I growled.

She glared defiantly at me, "I'm not leaving!"

I growled, "Look, if you want to make this difficult and scream and holler, then fine! That's how you can end your last day with me. I wanted you to have a nice day, say good bye to your friends and play some kind of stupid exit song while Logan drove you away. But if you want to spend it fight, so be it!"

I grabbed her off of the bed, dragging her out into the living room. Logan picked her up, "You ready to go?"

"No." She said miserably.

"Jubilee's waitin' in the car." he said.

I perked up, "Really?"

"Yeah." He said, smiling. "Go say hi before we leave."

"Who's Jubilee?" Conner asked.

"A friend."


	8. Goodbye Lovette, Hellow Jubilee?

Jubilee smiled as I walked out to the car, and she stepped out to meet me.

"Been a while Mio." She said.

"Four months and counting." I said, and she hugged me, then pulled away, messing up my hair.

"Nice to see you too." She said, then looked over my shoulder as the others walked up.

"Team, meet Jubilee, Jubilee, meet Megan, Kaldur, Conner, Wally, Artemis, and Robin." I said.

"Nice to meet you all, you been keepin' an eye on my little sister?" She asked.

"Sister?" Asked Robin, "You never told me you had _another _sister."

"I'm kind of her adopted sister." Jubilee explained.

"She used to be Logan's little side kick." I said, "Now she just lives with us."

"Yeah, you've got the side kick part covered, huh?" She teased.

"Not anymore." I said.

"Ha, you can move back to Japan and teach Super Man how to fight, and you'll still be the runt of the family, little sister." She said. I hate it when she teased me about that.

"For your information, I grew an inch this year." I said, crossing my arms across my chest.

She smirked, her fangs showing clearly, "Grow about twenty more, and then we'll talk."

I groaned, and shook my head, "Again with the height."

Wally sped right next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Hey gorgeous, I'm Wally."

She smiled, "Jubilee."

He paused, "I'm a speedster, sexy huh?"

"I'm a vampire." She said, flashing her fangs.

He stared at her face for a few seconds, "Can I poke one?"

Artemis slapped him, "Wally, behave!"

Lovette came out, riding on Logan's shoulders, sniffing and trying to hold back tears. I felt a stab of pain in my chest, this was hurting Lovette, she just wanted to stay with me. She didn't understand, I couldn't protect her anymore.

Logan walked over to me, gave me a quick hug, and said, "Take care of yourself darlin'."

Lovette threw herself at me, hugging my leg and sobbing, "Don't make me leave! Mio, please! I'll be a good girl, I'll do whatever you want, please!"

I picked he up, holding her close, "Lovette, listen to me, you have to go with Logan."

"but I don't want to-"

"Do you think I wanted any of this?" I asked. "Do you really think I wanted claws? Or to have a healing factor? I didn't want any of that stuff."

She looked up at me, sniffing and wiping away her tears.

"But it turned around." I said, hugging her again, "I didn't like it, I still don't, but it's gotten better, and I have to keep believing that it will _always _get better."

She nodded, wiping away her tears, "Will I see you again?"

I shrugged, "Rogue always used to tell me: in the end, everything is okay, if it's not okay, it's not the end."

"What does that mean?" She asked, eyes wide and hopeful, looking for security from me, the last person she should be looking to for comfort.

"I don't believe in self pity, it only brings you down." I explained. "Just hold your head high, and hope for the best."

I picked her up, putting her in the car and clipping her seatbelt into place. "As soon as this mess is all over, I promise, I'll take care of you."

She nodded, and I closed the door, letting out a deep breath. Jubilee put a hand on my shoulder, "Relax, you did the right thing Mio. She'll be safe now."

"Yeah." I mumbled. _But that doesn't make it any easier. I can't protect her anymore. No matter what I do, she'll never be safe with me, she'll always be in danger when she's with me._

Jubilee jumped into the car, and Logan turned to be, "See you soon."

"No, you won't." I said.

He raised an eyebrow, and I continued, "She can't stay with me anymore. Even when Daken goes away, he'll always come back. And even if he doesn't, there's Wild Child, Sabertooth, Romulus."

Logan nodded, "You tryin' to tell me somethin'?"

"She's your's." I said simply, "And you better take good care of her, or I'll cut off your head, and we'll finally see if that plan works."

He nodded, "She'll be safe, but you know she'll come lookin' eventually."

"Tell her anything you need to." I stressed, "If she needs to think I'm dead, then you make her think that."

"You expect me to do that to her?" He asked.

"I _expect _you," I sassed, "To do whatever it takes."

He slowly nodded, "OK."

I sighed, I hated seeing Logan torn like this, he was family. "Logan, I know you want everything to work out for all of us in the end, for Daken to come home, but it's never going to happen. We're… we're not _family_, not the way you wish we were."

I could tell that hurt him, but he was living in fantasy world, and I needed him to come out and face reality. "We never will be."

He stared at me for a long time, and then just shook his head, "You might have lost hope in Daken, in all of them, but I haven't."

I glared at him in utter rage, "You weren't the one that Daken-!"

"I know!" He snapped, "I know what he did to you, and I'm sorry! I'm sorry I wasn't there to help!"

I looked down at the ground, ashamed, "It wasn't _your _job to be there."

"Yes it was." he mumbled, getting into the car, "I'm your family." He drove away, and I sighed.

Conner turned to me, "What was… what was all that about?"

I shook my head, "Personal problems."

Jubilee spoke up, "Well, this is a great start to the week."

I turned to her, "Why are you still here?"

"Logan told me I was gonna have to stay with you, you know, look out for my little sister." She said, smirking through her fangs.

"Ugh!" I groaned, clenching my fists, "I don't need you to baby sit me!"

She laughed, walking past me and messing up my hair, "Whatever you say little sis, just show me where my room is, K?"


	9. Big Sister

I sighed, sitting down at the table across from Jubilee at the only Japanese restaurant in town. She looked up from her food to give me a pointed look. "Well, how've you been?"

"Fine." I said. We were silent for a few moments, eating.

"How's teaching martial arts going?"

"Fine." Another pause, this one lasting a short time.

"How's being a babysitter going?"

"Den Mother." I corrected.

She stared at me, "What?"

"They call it Den Mother." I said, plucking a fishcake out of my bowl and tossing it into my mouth with the chop sticks.

"How do you like being referred to as a mother?" She asked.

I paused for a moment. "Fine."

"Back to square one." She noted.

"Naturally." I countered.

She sighed, "So, the kids seem nice."

"Artemis and Wally won't shut up, Megan is crushing on Conner but he's not interested, Kaldur annoys me, and Robin is… Robin." I said.

"Sounds like you're in Hell." She said.

"It's not that bad." I dismissed.

"Wow, you actually like it here?" She asked.

I paused, "Well, they're annoying, but they're… kids. They're heroes, they save the world, and everything considered, reasonably strong."

Jubilee nodded, "And you're amazed that they didn't have to go through what you did to get that strong."

"Not necessarily." I sighed, "Conner's got Daddy issues, not as bad as mine, but still. Megan, you're right about that one, no trauma as far as I can tell, and I'm always right when it comes to that."

"Cocky much?" She asked.

"You want me to go through the list again?" I asked.

"No." She said quickly. "You're always right when it comes to that type of thing."

The list was basically me picking out random strangers and listing what big traits happened in their life. Using my nose to tell what emotions they generally carried, and their facial expressions, amount of worry lines, etc., I could usually figure out what their past was. Last time I listed ten people, and then left Jubilee to deal with a bunch of people wondering why I could tell them their deepest fears.

"Anyways, Aqualad, I've done a little snooping, abandonment issues." I said, sighing, "Kind of like me, but his father just doesn't care, I don't even know if his father knows about him."

"Is that better or worse?" She asked.

"Better." I clarified. "And Artemis, she's the daughter of the current Sports Master, and the former Tigress."

"The Sports Master?" She asked.

"Yeah, that blond guy Logan fought once, he told you to get in the jet when he fought him."

"You weren't around when that happened." She debated.

"Logan likes to tell stories a bit to much." I said, shrugging, "And he clued me in on some of this before I came. Guess he figured I would end up mentoring them all."

"How much?" She asked.

"Artemis' and Aqualad's fathers, Kid Flash's past, and Super Boy's origin." I said, shrugging, "The rest I figured out."

"Anyways, they've all been through a lot, even Wally. Major family feud with that guy." I shrugged.

"You wouldn't know by looking at him." Jubilee said, smirking.

"People wouldn't know I'm a feral mutants descended from wolves just by looking at me." I retaliated.

"Put your mask on, and they'll probably guess it." She smirked.

"… I really need a costume change." I grumbled.

"Why?" She asked, "You look fine."

"How many costume changes have you had in the past?" I asked.

She was silent.

"Exactly." I said, ending the conversation, then turning to the waitress next to me, "Watashi wa chekku wa shite kudasai koto wa dekimasu ka?"_ Can I please have the check?_

She nodded, going off to get it.

Jubilee shrugged, "So, how's school?"

"Failing every class, like usual." I answered.

"You know, if you actually applied yourself-"

"I'm not Superman." I said firmly. "I can't be a superhero and a star student. I chose being a fighter over a thinker a long time ago."

I wasn't a wonder child, I can't get good grades and be in the hero business at the same time. I decided a long time ago which was more important to me. Logan didn't mind. As long as I was making straight A's in the danger room, he was fine with my performance.

The waitress brought my check, and I paid for the meal, and then me and Jubilee went to the apartment.

"So." She said once we were inside, "You gonna let me have at those kids? I could help you shove some skill into their heads."

"Actually, I'm doing fine on my own, you're welcome to tag along tomorrow though."

Suddenly my phone rang, and I quickly answered it, "Talk now."

"There's been an incident here." Batman said.

"What happened? Conner find his heat vision?" I asked.

"No." He said, "I'll explain tomorrow when you come in, but just to be clear, there will be no physical training."

"That bad huh?" I asked.

He grunted, "Just do what you're told." He hung up.

I snorted, "Mr. talkative."

Jubilee raised an eyebrow at me, "So, where do I sleep?"

"You sleep?" I asked.

She glared at me, "Very funny."

"Sorry, I'm stereotypical." I shrugged.

"And you're racist." She pointed out.

"You would be too if your childhood was spent around people who continuously bashed you because you were one fourth of a different race than them." I snapped.

"Yeah yeah, sob story, Daddy wasn't there for you, I get it. Grow up already, you aren't the only one who's been through this." She said, her voice was calm and comforting, but her words were accusing and contradicting.

"I know." I said slowly.

"Eventually, you're going to have to let go." She said.

"Never." I hissed. "I will never forget what he did to me."

"The only thing he did to you was not be there. He didn't even know you existed! He couldn't have been there for you!" She protested.

"Now you're defending him?" I asked, shocked.

"No! I'm saying if you don't just let it go, this revenge thing is going to ruin your life, permanently!" She contradicted.

"This is my life, and if I wanna spend it using all my time and effort trying to kill one guy, I'll do it!" I snapped.

"Have you ever thought what would happen if you killed him? You know Batman would kick you off of Young Justice. He doesn't tolerate killing people."

"No duh detective." I snorted. "And don't think you know everything about me, you don't!"

"I've been listening to your angst filled story over and over since I met you, I bloody well should know everything." She paused, as if wondering whether to say what she wanted to. "Cub."

I froze for a moment, that one word set me off to the point where I did the unthinkable. I jumped her, tackling her to the floor.

We rolled for a minute, her trying to wrestle me off, but I wouldn't let her, I popped my claws, and stabbed the floor right next to her face. I leaned closer while her eyes widened, not expecting me to have done that. "If you ever call me that again-"

"Think about what you're doing." She said quickly.

I froze again, realizing that I had nearly killed her. I took a deep breath, and sheathed my claws getting off of her, and looking away from her. "Sorry." I mumbled, "That was uncalled for."

She stood up, putting a hand on my shoulder, "No, it was completely called for." She said, "I know how you feel about being called that, especially by Daken."

I shrugged her hand off, "He just… he calls me that when he cuts me up. I guess, I've just… over time… associated that name with pain. Whenever someone calls me that, I just… I don't get scared I just-"

"You expect he's gonna pop out and slice you up." She finished.

"Yeah…" I mumbled.

She hugged me, and then yawned, "Well, I'm off to bed, have fun sleeping, don't stab through your mattress again."

I snorted, "Vain wishes."

She shrugged, walking away, "I prefer to look at it as, hoping for the best."


	10. Therapist?

Me and Jubilee walked into the main room, and saw Batman watching a monitor of the team sitting or standing around the kitchen/living room.

I walked up, "What's got them so depressed?"

"There was a very unfortunate training exercise yesterday morning." Batman said, turning away from the screens to look at me. "Manhunter psychically linked the seven of them within an artificial reality. They all knew this going in. What they didn't know was that it was a trained for failure exercise. No matter what the team accomplished, it was designed to grow worse. Still, they were aware nothing was real. Including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

I paused, "Watching each one of their mentors die one by one, with no time to grieve, must have been traumatic."

Jubilee nodded, "Yeah, but now that they see you're all still alive, they should be good right? Maybe even better with the normal 'I never want it to really happen so I'll do the best I can on missions' retaliation."

Batman shook his head, "They never grieved, they knew it wasn't real. Even when Wolf died during the mission, they didn't even stop."

"So what's wrong?" I asked, "They feel guilty they didn't grieve. Nothing a pep talk won't fix."

Again, he shook his head, "No, that changed when Artemis died. Megan knew it wasn't real, but her subconscious couldn't tell the difference. She forgot the whole purpose of the exercise so her subconscious mind took control. Making it very, very real for all of them."

"Well, boom goes that theory." Jubilee said sarcastically.

"Megan did all that?" I asked, "The shy little Martian stow away?"

"Don't let her fool you, in terms of raw power, she outdistances even Martian Manhunter." Batman explained.

"I get it, Megan took control and that made everything real for them. Why not just pull the plug?" Jubilee asked.

"Manhunter tried. But Megan had a death grip on the entire reality. Artemis was supposed to wake up when she died, but she didn't. Megan convinced her mind that she had died, and so Artemis slipped into a coma," He explained calmly. "Manhunter tried to go directly into Megan's mind, but he got lost. He was sucked into that reality believing everything Megan's mind had created."

"Which defeated the purpose of sending him in." Jubilee sighed.

"What happened in the illusion?" I asked.

"The entire team died." Batman explained. "One by one, they were picked off."

"And now they have the shock of actually failing a life threatening mission, and dying as well." Jubilee said, suddenly very worried.

"What's the big deal?" I asked, "I die all the time."

"Not everyone has that piece of mind." She explained. "You don't care about life threatening situations because in nearly every scenario, you'd come out of it one way or another. They've never done that."

"But now they have." I pointed out, "So now, won't they be more comfortable with the idea of death?"

"No." Batman said forcefully. "If anything, they'll fear it even more."

I nodded, remembering the first time I died. It had taken quite a few deaths to make me comfortable with the idea of it.

"Oh." I mumbled. I sighed, looking at them again from the screen. They looked like they had been through Hell. Actually, they had.

I turned back to Batman, "So, if there's no training today, why call me in? You could have just told me about this over the phone."

"The team needs someone to talk to about what happened." Batman said. "Someone they know, and not one of us."

Jubilee brightened up, "Leaving Mio as the obvious choice."

My eyes widened, "What?"

Batman nodded, "You're to become their therapist for the day. They know you, but not enough to really care what you think about them."

"Thanks." I mumbled dryly.

"So you'll do it?" He asked.

"I'm not exactly the best person to turn to for a role model, and I'm not that great with emotions." I said, shrugging.

"On the contrary, you're very good with emotions." He said, glaring at me in a way that I could tell, he knew about my pheromone control.

I glared at him, and then snorted, "Why would I be the best choice? Black Canary would be better. She's encouraging."

"They've done better under your supervision." He said. "Especially the progress you've made with Conner."

I sighed, "All I did was train the kid to fight, it's not anything _I _did that made him do better with emotions."

"Conner trusts you." Batman said, glaring at me, "Robin trusts you as well. Kaldur respects you and your skills. Artemis envies your skills, you're slowly becoming a role model to her."

"Kanojo wa, rōrumoderu to shite satsugai yasei o erabimasu? Kanojo wa sono yōna _sumātona _on'nanokodesu." _She picks the murdering feral as a role model? She's such a __**smart**__ girl._ I mumbled sarcastically.

He gave me a sharp look, he must know Japanese. Of course he knows Japanese, he's Batman! "Considering Logan's extensive litter, I'm not surprised someone like Artemis gravitated to you."

I glared at him, "I'm not Logan."

He ignored that. "Wally was afraid of you at first, but after the mission with the Injustice League, he now feels comfortable around you. He's slowly beginning to trust you. Megan-"

"Hates me." I finished, "I know she's afraid of me, and she hates it when I hurt Conner. She resents me, and I'm pretty sure the day I took over for Black Canary was the worst of her life."

Batman shook his head, "Not after the training exercise."

My eyes narrowed, "Where was I in this training exercise?"

He turned away from me, "You'll have to take that up with her. They've already been told about you stepping in for therapist. I know you won't disappoint them."

I groaned, cursing him in Japanese and walking out.

JUBILEE'S POINT OF VEIW:

"That was cruel. Making her do it." I accused.

"She could walk out anytime." Batman dismissed.

"But you knew she wouldn't." I shot back, glaring at him. You mess with Mio, you mess with me. That was how sisterhood worked.

"Yes. I did." He said plainly.

"Look, I've only seen her around them for one day, and I already know how much she cares about them. I know that if anything happens to these kids on a mission, she'll be going out for blood." I explained.

"She's watched them grow, mature, and overcome hurdles in the past few months. She's watched them thoroughly and witnessed exactly how they are inside." Batman said, "No matter how much she denies it, they're becoming _her _litter."

**CONNER**

Conner sat across from me in the green chairs, tense, and ready to pounce. I could tell this was dangerous territory, one false word and he would blow.

"I know it's hard." I said, trying to start out by letting him know he wasn't alone. "That feeling of losing your friends and family. The whole time convinced it was real. I know it's devastating."

He looked up at me, and I continued, maybe I wasn't that bad at this after all. "I can understand that feeling, Conner. You may be perceived as Superboy who's not supposed to have feelings of sadness or-"

He jumped up, now completely livid with me, "You don't know what I feel!"

He headed out the door. "Conner-"

"Just leave me alone!" he yelled, walking out.

I sighed, "Ok, wrong angle."

I grabbed my notebook and pen, wrote Conner's name down, and then scribbled: Angry… duh.

**ARTEMIS**

Artemis slouched in the green chair, "Look, me dying during the exercise might've started things going south, but I was coma girl. Missed out on all the fun. Forgetting it wasn't real. So, no trauma. No need for the shrink wrap."

I chuckled, "Ok then. You don't feel like you need help."

"Whatever. Maybe." She shot at me. She had a smart mouth, and that was okay with me, as long as she didn't take it to far.

"Look, you know you need help. Only you know the real way you feel about things, and only you can truly deal with them. One way of dealing with them: talking about them with your friends." I said, shrugging, "It's not a weakness."

"Number one, I know that. Number two, not a sign of weakness? Coming from you?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Give me a break, you never talk about your feelings."

"Not with you." I said, "Now, Logan, Jubilee, and a few other people you don't know, I have talked to them about how I feel. It wasn't easy for me to come clean about a lot of stuff, but I did. I felt better afterwards, even if they couldn't really help me, talking about it, admitting I was feeling those things, that made a whole word of difference."

"Look, if I wanted to, I could go to my friends for help."

"You feel that way?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"And you still keep secrets from them." I said, smirking.

"Y-you know?" She asked, shocked and a little scared at what I would do with this information.

"Yeah." I said, shrugging. "Not hard to figure out, you look just like him."

She glared at me, "I'm nothing like him."

I nodded, "I know that. I know that feeling a lot more than you think."

"Are you gonna tell them?" She asked quietly.

"No." I said. "It's up to you. You could start by admitting you're not really Green Arrow's niece."

"Yeah right. Can you imagine what Wally would do with that?" She said, looking away from me.

"So your top concern is Wally? Not surprising." I smirked.

She looked up at me, and I shook my head, "None of your secrets are safe from me Barbie."

"How did you find all this out?" She asked quietly, suddenly feeling very small and powerless.

I sighed, "OK, I know pretty much your life story, only fair you can hold something over my head. I have a very rare mutation, I can control my pheromones, basically my scent, and pretty much control everyone's emotions when I'm around them. Once I've got their emotions down, their bodies follow easily."

Her eyes widened, "Really?" She whispered.

I nodded, "Don't worry, I'm not that good with it. I can only really distract people for a moment with it. But in a fight, a moment is all I really need. I couldn't make you do anything without you snapping out of it quickly. I don't have any reason to control your emotions anyway, so don't worry about it."

She nodded, clearing her throat, "Can I… can I go now?"

"Sure." I shrugged.

She turned to leave, "Uh, your not going to tell anyone about this, right?"

"Not a soul."

She left, and I turned back to my notebook: Guilty about being the true cause of the accident.

**KALDUR**

"I was the general. But behaved like a soldier," Kaldur sat with his shoulders slumped. "I sacrificed myself. I am not fit for command and must resign as team leader."

"Quitting isn't exactly something I respect, but if you're sure, who would replace you?" I asked. I knew where this was going. Aqualad was on a guilt trip.

Kaldur furred his brows, "Artemis is too raw and untrusting. Kid Flash, too rash and impulsive. Miss Martian remains too eager to please. Superboy carries too much anger.

I nodded, "Leaving Robin."

"But he's so young…" Kaldur said, not sure.

"In my experience, age doesn't mean anything." I debated. "I was ten years old when I first started learning to fight, and it wasn't voluntary."

He raised an eyebrow at that, but I didn't give him time to question me. "Now, you know Logan kills people, right?"

He nodded, "Your mentors methods are not my business, but I do know of his… unusual ways."

"Well, then you should have figured out by now, I have killed people, right?"

He nodded, "I will not judge you."

"Okay then. I was ten years old when I first killed a man." I said, shrugging.

His eyes widened, "So young…"

"Yeah." I said, "And it definitely wasn't the last time. But I do understand what you're saying about Robin, he is immature."

Kaldur sighed, "I cannot shift this burden to him. Not yet. It appears I must withdraw my resignation."

I nodded, "You may be doubting yourself right now, but I should know, all wounds heal in time."

"Not everyone heals as fast as you." He said sadly.

I nodded, and he left. Unsure he is still fit to be leader.

**WALLY**

I frowned at Wally who was sitting upside with a bowl of popcorn, "So Speedy, you want to believe that after everything you went through, including your own death from fiery explosion...you're peachy?"

"I'm, uh, fairly certain I never used the word 'peachy', but I think you got the gist," he tossed several pieces into his mouth. "And for the umpteenth time, I am not Speedy. Red Arrow used to be Speedy, and I am not walking around with a bow and arrow. That's Arty's job."

"You really have no interest in confronting your extreme reaction to Artemis' death?"

He suddenly jerked up, choking on a corn kernel. He quickly collected himself, "Uh, I'd rather talk about you, babe."

I glared at him, "Wally, you're in denial."

"I'm comfortable with that." He shrugged.

In denial. Must find way to make him and Artemis MAKE OUT ALREADY!

**ROBIN**

"Hurting? Try traumatized," Robin glanced at the floor. "I finally become leader and wind-up sending all my friends to their deaths. I- I know I did what I had to, but I hated it. When we started this team, I was desperate to be in-charge. Not anymore. An- and that's not even the worst of it. Mio… you can't tell Bruce."

"Robin, nothing, and I mean _nothing _will leave this room." I said quietly.

"I always wanted...expected t-to grow up and become him. And the hero bit, I'm still all in. But that thing inside of him? That thing that drives him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission. That's not me. I- I don't wanna be _the _Batman anymore."

"I understand." I said quietly. He looked so… young sitting there. He had never looked like a child to me before.

I sighed, standing up and walking over to him. He looked up at me, raising an eyebrow, "Mio-"

I hugged him, wrapping my arms around him and just holding him. He was hurting badly. He was my friend, my first friend I had made outside of Logan's adopted litter.

"It'll be okay Robin, I promise."

He took a deep breath, "It's Richard."

I pulled away, raising my eyebrows, "What?"

"My real name, it's Richard." He said, smiling up at me, "Friends and family call me Dick."

I smiled back down at him, "I'm glad you told me. Batman would be livid if he knew you told me."

He shrugged, "I'm not Batman. I know you, and I trust you. It's not like I told you my last name anyways."

"You know many Richard's in Gotham City with black hair, blue eyes, thirteen years old, and probably rich to afford all that fancy gear?" I asked, smirking.

His eyes widened, "Oh crap…"

"Fear not." I said, sitting back down, "I don't snoop, and I know that Richard, that guy's the real mask. Robin, that's who you really are. So I don't care about your secret identity."

He smiled, "Thanks."

Realizing that he doesn't want to be Batman, trying to be his own man.

**MEGAN**

"It was all my fault. Hello, Megan," Megan bopped herself on the forehead. "Who else could take a simple exercise and turn it into a nightmare that terrorizes everyone she cares about?"

I raised an eyebrow as her green skin melted away. "Megan, you turned white."

"No!" Megan jolted to her feet, examining herself. "Oh. You meant...Caucasian. Yeah, I'm fine being Megan. But I can't be trusted to use my other powers."

I sighed, shaking my head, "M'gann, you're Martian. Not using your natural abilities is like me refusing to use my claws, or any other of my abilities. Trust me, I've tried going down that road, and it'll always back fire on you. Not being yourself is never the answer. It won't make your feelings of guilt go away. Learn from what happened. Practice until you gain control, and regain your confidence."

She sat back down, finally looking up at me, "Mio, I… I just.. I feel so-"

"Guilty, depressed, you feel like a ticking time bomb, like you can't be trusted." I finished.

She nodded, "You know the feeling then."

"Oh yeah." I said. "Look M'gann, I was wondering, in this little virtual reality thing, where was I during all this?"

She sighed, "You'll be mad at me."

"No, I won't. I promise." I vowed.

"Okay. When we went up to the Fortress of Solitude, you went with us, and while we were trying to subdue the alien ship, after Artemis and Wolf got killed, you pushed me out of the way of one of the beams." She sighed, her voice quivering, "You sacrificed yourself for me, the one who got us all into that mess."

I put a hand on her knee, "M'gann, it's okay."

"No it's not!" she sobbed, finally giving in to the to tears. "It was all my fault."

"M'gann, you can't take the full blame. Really, there were three elements that lead up to this." I said softly. "First of all, they thought it would be a good idea to put you in an very realistic illusion due to telepathic connections. Professor X, he doesn't due those things because he knows how damaging they can be. If I had been there, I wouldn't have let them do it to you all."

She looked up at me, "But the training session… we needed to do it."

"No you didn't." I said firmly. "I could have taken you to Utopia X and had you train in the danger room."

"But wouldn't they have gotten mad?" She asked, "None of us are mutants."

"If they had a bone to pick they could have taken it up with me." I brushed off. "Secondly, if Artemis had been paying a little more attention, she might not have gotten killed in the first place."

She looked up at me, "So… you're saying this is her fault?"

"I'm saying." I countered, "That it's none of your fault's. No one can blame you for panicking at the thought of your team mate dying."

She nodded slowly, "My powers are still unstable." She whispered.

"Then train." I said simply.

She nodded, and left.

Guilty about powers being the cause of everyone's distress. Trying to assume all responsibility for accident.

I looked over my notes, sighing. Wally, Artemis, and maybe Kaldur would be fine for now, but until they made real progress, Robin, Megan, and maybe Conner would have to sit out of the big stuff. Just to be safe. One angry, guilty, or impulsive move from one distraught member could kill them all.

Jubilee walked into the room, "How'd it go Den Mother?"

I sighed again, shaking my head. "They're devastated. I'm devastated!"

I looked up at her, "Jubilee, I'm way out of my league! This is… so far beyond my level." I shook my head, putting my head in my hands, "It's just… this isn't me! I'm not some authority figure, or a role model. I'm a barley passable Den Mother, and that's only because I hardly have to do anything!"

I rubbed my forehead slowly, "I'm not a person people like getting close to. When civilians see me in costume, they run away. All the people who are completely comfortable being in the same room as me who don't wanna kill me, I can count on my fingers! You, Kitty, Rogue, Logan, and Lovette!"

I sat straight up again, glaring at her, "How is it that I get feared everywhere I go, but here, I get barley get respected by two people!"

She shrugged, "Maybe here, they actually see the real you, not the blood thirsty, I don't care, macho mask."

I snorted, "It's not a mask."

She looked at me firmly, "Yeah it is. I know you care about this place, and pretty much everyone in it."

I stood up, glaring at her, my icy blue eyes piercing into hers. "I don't care about this hide out, about the scared little Martian girl in a so much bigger world. I don't care about the speedster who reminds me of quicksilver so much, I really just want to dye his hair white and make him put on a blue and silver costume with a lightning bolt. I don't care about the fish out of water who feels like he's out of his zone not only because he's the only Atlantean on the team, but also the only black guy. I don't care about Daddy-Problem-Barbie who can't look at Canary or Green Arrow as a role model and instead turns to the messed up mutant killer. I don't care about the little orphaned birdie who's all sad cause Daddy's cowl isn't as great as he thought it would be. I don't care about the clone who's angry every five seconds and is constantly thinking, 'Daddy why won't you love me?' instead of just being happy his father didn't kill him or put him in a cell next to the mad scientist gone Block Buster."

She straightened her posture, fixing me with a look Logan had given me many times. "If you don't care so much, why are you here? Why not pack your bags and come to the mansion with Lovette and the rest of us? Daken can't get to Lovette where she is right now, and if you really didn't like it here, you'd come running back home with your tail between your legs cause your scared of Daken, the guy who shoved you off your high and mighty stool and put you in your place." She leaned towards me, "You might have even Batman fooled, but unlike those kids, I'm not afraid of your crazy eyes Sissy."

"You used your fangs as an excuse to go running back to Daddy." I shot back.

"You're never been happier than you are right now. This place, these kids, they make you happy. You smiled at every single one of those kids." She said, trying to get the upper hand, cause right now, it was up for grabs.

"Admit you're still afraid to live your own life without Logan there to tell you right from wrong." I said, trying to grab it as well.

"_Admit _that losing this place and these kids would kill you." She said.

I paused, "We done?"

She shrugged, "That's all I got."

I nodded, and walked to the door, then stopped looking back at her, "Crazy eyes?"

She shrugged, and raised one eye brow at the same time, meaning: **you may not like it, but it's true, ask anyone.**

"Low blow." I criticized, leaving the room, shaking my head.

On my way down the hall, I nearly ran into Conner. "Oh, sorry Super Girl."

He glared at me, and then dropped the glare, sighing. "Can I talk to you?"

I raised an eyebrow and turned back to look at the therapy room, to see Jubilee walking out of it. "Sure."

**CONNER**

"Here's the ugly truth… I wasn't devastated. Even with Superman, Tornado, Canary...the whole League dead...even though I didn't save Wolf...watched Artemis, Kaldur and you die... abandoned Megan... I felt…" Conner lowered his eyes, "At peace. From the moment I first opened my eyes in that Cadmus pod, there's been one thing I've wanted and feared, to know what it is to be Superman. And I knew. So I was... happy. Everyone I cared about dead or traumatized and I'm happy. How do I get past the guilt of that? How do I live with myself?" _So he does like Megan, why didn't he admit it earlier?_

I sighed, reaching across and putting my hand on his knee. "I don't have all the answers Conner. Admitting it, well, Logan always used to say that admitting it was the first step, and it was also the hardest." I stood up, and leaned on the edge of his chair, hugging him, "I'm proud of you Conner."

He grabbed me desperately, like Lovette does when I come back after disappearing for a week. I was shocked for a moment, but then as he started shaking, I realized what he was doing. When he hid his face into my shoulder, I felt the tears trickle down onto my shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay Conner." I said, slowly putting a hand on his head, and stroking his head carefully. People did that with dogs right? Does it work with people too? Do humans consider it insulting or belittling? Oh wait, he's Kryptonian, does that just make it worse?

However, it seemed to work, because eventually he calmed down. He took a deep breath, and the tears began to fade slowly, until he pulled away, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

I shook my head "Don't worry about it."

"I always worry." He mumbled. "About all of them. Wally, Artemis, Robin, Kaldur, and Megan. They all just seem so… vulnerable."

"Because they don't have super strength." I said, "I used to think the same about everyone else around me. Rogue, Jubilee, Kitty, all of them. I thought because they couldn't fall three hundred fee, get run over by a bus and walk it off that they were vulnerable."

"What did you do?" He asked.

"I told Rogue how I felt, and why I felt like that," I paused, remembering the first time I had actually opened up to someone about a feeling, even if it was really just a thought I had yet to voice. "And then she kicked my ass without using her powers at all." I finished, giving one short nod at the end.

He looked up at me, raising an eyebrow, "And that… helped?"

I laughed a little, "Yeah. It actually did. After I got past the sheer humiliation of having her beat me with a lunch tray and shove me headfirst into the nearest lunch room trash can-"

He chuckled, and I glared at him, "Something funny?"

His smile ran right off his face, screaming something about crazy eyes. "No."

I dropped the glare, smiling again, "Well, after it went away and I washed the meatloaf out of my hair, I realized, Rogue wasn't the only one who could do that."

"They all did that to you?" He asked, puzzled.

"No." I snapped, "I realized that in this crazy messed up thing that we call our lives… a set of shiny claws and a healing factor mean nothing. And neither does your super strength. Like I said before, training and powers are nothing. Will is everything."

"So… you're saying that I shouldn't worry?" He asked, confused.

"I'm saying, that it's okay to worry, but you need to trust them to be able to fight for themselves." I said, smiling. "it's something Logan's had to go through with all of his girls."

"How many daughters does he have!" Conner asked, exasperated.

"Uh…" I froze, "I'm not sure even I can count all of them."

He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Okay look, point is, you need to learn when your friends need you to help them, and when they need you to let them figure it out for themselves." I said.

He paused for moment, "Which one is this?"

I smiled at him again, "The one where I give you another hug then do something completely weird for you."

"What?"

I gave him a one armed hug, and then reached into my pocket, pulling out the black carving of the dragon. "Here."

He took it carefully, examining it, "It looks… hand carved."

"Yeah." I said, smiling. "It is."

"Who made it? Logan?" He asked.

"No." I laughed, "My grandfather on my mothers side. He gave it to my mother when she was a little girl. She gave it to me when I was about eight."

He smiled, turning it over in his hand. It was small, slightly bigger than his thumb. It had been made of regular wood, but it had been held over a candle flame for hours, just close enough for the smoke to stain it pure black.

"My mother used to say that it was our family's guardian." I said, smiling also. "Said that when we were scared, when we were against the wall with no way out, that we had to look to the dragon, and he would show us the way."

He raised an eyebrow, "Is that true?"

"No, just a legend. Most things in our culture are from legends our ancestors told each other around a campfire."

"She sounds nice." He said, "Your mom I mean."

"She was." I said shortly.

"Was?" He asked, looking up at me. "What happened to her."

I frowned sadly, looking at the ground. "She died awhile ago."

"I… I'm sorry." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged it off, standing up and taking a deep breath. "No problem. I got over it a long time ago." _Lie. _It's not really a big deal, people die every day right?" _Lie _"So, I shrugged it off a long time ago." _Another lie._ "Sure I miss her, but I'll see her again one day." _Again a lie. Someone like your mother is going to Heaven. You're going straight to Hell when you die. _"I used to cry about it, but it doesn't really bother me anymore." _Stop lying already! You have nightmares about her death nearly every night! Sometimes you have to run to the shower and turn the water on full blast so Lovette doesn't hear you crying!_

He nodded, "Okay."

I walked to the door, "See you tomorrow Conner."


	11. Death Note

Wally walked to the entrance of the training room, noticing Mio fiddling with the door entrance.

"Hey." He said.

She looked over at him, "What?"

"Uh… what's up with the automatic door?" He asked.

"Broken." She said, turning back to her work. "It opened and now it won't shut."

Wally hummed in thought, "Maybe someone stuck a penny in there."

She paused, turning around to look at him, "Why a penny?"

Wally shrugged, "At my school, everyone pranks the janitor that way."

She stared at him, "Did you stick a penny in there?"

"No I just-"

She didn't let him finish as she popped one of her middle claws, "If I find a penny in there." She poked his chest with her claw. "I'm taking you down."

He stared at her for a minute, considering the possibility of her being insane. "Okay."

He walked away slowly, having read somewhere that when dealing with a pit bull your best bet is to walk away slowly, they got excited if you ran.

HALF AN HOUR LATER

I was sitting in the main room with Jubilee, talking about random things when Wally walked in.

I glared at him, and pulled something out of my pocket, holding it up so he could see.

His eyes widened at the little copper coin, and he sped away.

I put it back in my pocket, Jubilee staring at me, "What was that all about?"

"An agreement." I said, in a tone that suggested the answer wasn't important.

"So what do you do for fun around here?" She asked.

"Train."

"No movies? No extra curricular like soccer, or basket ball?" She asked.

"I went to the library last week." I offered.

"Really?" She asked. "What book did you get?"

"None." I said, shrugging. "I went in because I was chasing a serial killer who was trying to get away from me."

She sighed, "You need to get a life."

"My life is fighting, and teaching other people to fight." I said with finality.

She shook her head, "That's why you need to get a life."

Conner walked in suddenly, smiling a little. His eyes scanned the room, and then rested on me. His smile widened a little, and he walked over to me, and handed me a box.

I raised an eyebrow, and took it slowly. I glanced at Jubilee, and then back to Conner, who said, "Uh… I just saw it at the flea market… I thought you might like it."

I opened the small box, and pulled out a metal chain, with a single dog tag on the end. I held it steady, it was blank on one side, so I flipped it over, and saw something I hadn't seen in a long time. Japanese writing.

I smiled immediately, quickly reading the two digit inscription.

Conner fidgeted nervously, "The guy said they mean family, is that right?"

I chuckled, "Yeah, he had it right."

Conner smiled again, "You like it?"

I nodded, slipping the necklace on. "It's great Conner. I love it."

He smiled, and walked out of the room, looking like a puppy dog who just got the belly rub of a lifetime. I chuckled, shaking my head, and turning back to Jubilee.

She gave me a knowing smirk, "Why didn't you tell me there was a guy here you liked?"

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You and Superboy?" She asked, chuckling, "I personally think it's cute. Wolverine and Superman hate each other, but true love draws forth their children. It's like Romeo and Juliet really. But I doubt a dagger and poison will be playing a role here."

"First of all, I have no idea what or who Romeo and Juliet are."* I said, "Second of all, there's nothing between me and Conner. He's a good kid, and I'm his teacher, that's all there is to it."

"Funny, as I recall, that was exactly what you said about Jake a few years back." She pointed out.

I flinched slightly, "He was a mistake. A mistake that won't be happening again."

"Look." She said, sighing, "I know more than anyone how much he hurt you. For the love of God, I'm the one who finally made you come out of your room after crying for three days."

"It was two days." I said, "Barley two days."

"Whatever." She dismissed, "Look point is, no matter how much I want to castrate him for doing that to you, I should really thank him."

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"He gave you so much." She said, sighing. "He actually made you smile! After three months-"

"He stole my first kiss." I interrupted.

She froze, "You never told me that."

"…You heard nothing."

She paused, but continued. "Anyways, after three months, he had you-"

"Following him around like a trained puppy."

"I was going to say, actually acting human. You actually had a _life_. You went out, and you actually _talked _to people." She explained. "You actually _trusted _someone."

"And now Jake is the reason I don't trust anyone, and I certainly don't date." I reminded her.

She glared at me, "Mio if I have to bring Dr. Phil down here just to make you see it's okay sot like someone then I will."

I glared at her, "This conversation is over."

I got up and left, walking to the garage and hopping on my motorcycle, driving home. Jubilee could get home by herself. Vampire speed and all that.

I sighed as I walked inside, heading to the kitchen. Before I even got halfway there, something brushed my nose.

I froze, immediately taking in the foreign scent. Foreign, but oh so familiar.

My throat felt like it closed up, and I balled up my hands into fists. My heart beat raced, pounding in my chest like a drum.

"He was here?" I whispered quietly. I looked around slowly, taking in every scent, and listening so hard I thought my ears would pop.

He had been here, but he was gone now. I slowly walked into the kitchen, looking around, until I spotted a small, folded piece of paper on the counter.

I walked over slowly, fearing what news it might bring.

I picked it up, opening it slowly. A small object fell from the paper, and I grabbed it, eyes widening. My eyes shot to the paper, why?

Cub-

You sent her to the mansion, well played. I can't stress to you how hard it was for me to get in there, but even Xavier has to sleep sometime. She isn't as safe as you think, and now you know, neither are you.

I've told you once, and I'll tell you again: you're not nearly as strong as you think you are. it's a shame really, I was hoping after five years with Logan you would be a challenge by now.

Those kids you're hanging out with, after I get done with Lovette, they're next.

See you soon.

I shivered once, looking down at the object in my hand. An orange lock of hair.

I dropped it, grabbing the phone, and dialing Logan's number as fast as I could.

My heart pounded in my chest as it rang. **Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.**

"What?" He asked.

"Where's Lovette?" I asked quickly, "Where is she, is she OK?"

"Calm down kid, she's right here, why?" He asked.

I took a deep breath, so Daken didn't have her? But her scent was on the hair. He might have used pheromones to make it smell that way.

"Look at her hair, is there a piece missing?" I asked.

"Why?" He asked.

"Please, Logan it's important. I'll explain later." I begged desperately.

There was a paused, "Yeah, there is."

I trembled again, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Now tell me, why?" He asked, getting impatient.

"I just got a letter." I mumbled. "From Daken. It had a piece of Lovett's hair in it."

I heard Logan curse on the other end, and I sighed, "Logan, he got so close to her…"

"Okay kid, calm down." He said, "I'll keep a closer eye on her from now on."

"He'll just get her again." I whispered.

"Don't think like that." He said firmly. "I'll have her moved into the room next to mine. He won't be getting at her again."

I nodded slowly, then remembered he couldn't see me through the phone. "Okay."

"You wanna come down here for a few days yourself?" He asked. "You being here won't make it more dangerous for her, probably just the opposite."

"Okay." I whispered again. "I'll come over for a few days."

"You want me to tell her that?" He asked.

"I don't care." I mumbled, and hung up.

I put the phone down, and sank to my knees slowly. After I had escaped from Hydra, Lovette had been right next to me all that time. She had never left my side, ever. She never complained when I dragged her to town after town while we were on the run. She had been scared when we were homeless, sad when we were hungry, but she never complained.

When we had run into the Dark Avengers, and they had offered me a spot on the team, I had taken it for Lovette. So she could sleep in a _bed _every night. So she could _eat _every day. I had fought with them, trained with them, just so I could get stronger, for her.

That was a long time ago, and it wasn't anything I was proud of. I did it because she needed it. I could go days without food, but it seemed she couldn't go five hours without a juice box or peanut butter crackers.

Norman had only had one condition to me being on the team. I needed a mentor. He was the one who picked the team member that would be directing my training, and who I would be tagging along with on missions.

There was only one person he would consider. Daken Howlett.

I shook myself out of the old memories, and grabbed my back pack, shoving in a few t-shirts and pants and walking out the door. I'd pick up Jubilee, tell Bat's I was leaving for a few days, and say my goodbyes. I looked over at the clock, uh… maybe tomorrow morning.

I sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, and head in my hands. Four years of protecting her. Of getting stronger so I could protect her. I shook my head, it wasn't enough. All that training, all the blood spilled in the danger room. All the sweat in the weight room. All the fighting styles I had burned into my memory. All the strategies I had memorized if the worst happened.

And of course, the speed I had pushed myself to obtain incase all the above went to Hell.

It was all for her, every last danger room session. And now, none of it mattered, because all he would have needed to do was lower his claws a little, and she would have died. He wouldn't have even cared. He had probably toyed with the idea of killing her. Her life, it was nothing to him. The mere fact she was alive was because of a whim.

It would be so much easier, if I just knew what he was after.

Does he want me dead? Is he trying to get me on his side? Is he trying to get to Wolverine through me? Was there some option I wasn't seeing? Some detail I had missed? Was there something I was just being completely blind to?

"Mio?" Came a confused voice form my doorway.

I looked up, to see Jubilee standing there, eyes wide. I slowly took in a deep breath, "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" She asked.

I held up the note from earlier, "He was here."

She took it, eyes scanning over it. "He left a lock of her hair too." I mumbled.

He eyes widened, "Is she okay?"

"She's still at the mansion." I mumbled. "He snuck into her room, and had his _claws _out. He could have easily killed her, but no. He chose to cut a piece of her hair off. He. Is. _Taunting _me."

She paused, "What are you gonna do?"

"Logan wants me to come over to the mansion for a few days." I sighed.

"And leave the kids here?" She asked. "You read the note, they're next!"

I froze, "… Crap."

"You're really gonna leave them here?" She asked.

"What would you suggest!" I snapped.

"Take 'em with you." She said, as if it was obvious.

"… Am I allowed to do that?" I asked.

She smirked, flashing her fangs, "If anyone has a problem, they can take it up with me."

* * *

><p>* Mio has only been in America for a little more than four years, so she doesn't know bout Romeo and Juliet, or a lot of things like that.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>OK guys, I have absolutely no idea as of now where this story is going, or how I'm going to end it.<strong>

**Relax, I'm not gonna ask you to pick an ending for it, not in the least.**

**But what do you think should happen?**

**She goes to the mansion alone and Jubilee stays to watch the kids?**

**She could take Conner with her to the mansion, and leave the others with Jubilee.**

**She could just go to the mansion with Jubilee and leave Batman or Canary with the kids after explaining the situation to them.**


	12. Father Of Mine

Batman stared at me while I explained the situation to him.

"So, I'll just leave Jubilee here, she can take over for me while I'm gone visiting Lovette, Logan, and the rest of them for a few days." I said, shrugging, "Just a normal, standard visit."

He stared at me still, not commenting, as if he was trying to see through me, and into the slightly damp, cold cave wall right behind me. I fidgeted nervously. "So… am I free to go?"

Again, silence, did he suspect something from this sudden request? "Uh, Bats? Is my vacation time approved?"

"You're not going to stay at the X mansion are you?" He asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I'll come back." I promised.

He nodded in thought, "I just though that now would be the time you'd start… never mind."

I frowned, "What?"

"I do believe I said, never mind." He mumbled, turning away.

"Bats." I snapped, "For the love of all things good and decent, what were you going to say? Tell me!"

"I just thought, that since you're the only one of Logan's relations that isn't off doing whatever they want to do and causing trouble, that you'd be the one to take over for him in the end." He said, as if he was stating something obvious. "For danger room sessions, and his other duties at Utopia X."

I paused, it had never occurred to me before, but he was probably right. Daken was off doing God knows what, and Laura was just trying to 'find herself' and touring the world with Gambit. He had other adopted kids sure, but Kitty and Rogue both had their own different classes to teach, and Rahne… well… she never expressed any interest in actually _teaching_. She kind of _condemned _anyone who suggested her becoming a teacher instead of a squad leader.

But me? Taking Logan's place? I shook my head, "I'm not Logan. I'm not anything like him."

"There's nothing wrong with being Logan." He pointed out. "I've known Logan for a long time, and even though his code of conduct is much less… strict than mine, I can always count on him to stay on the right side of the line. He's the only man I know who can kill, can go down into that dark place, and come right back out easily. _That _is something you and him do have in common. Don't deny that."

"Yeah I know but…"

"You fear losing your own identity that you've struggled to obtain." He finished.

"Yeah…" I mumbled. "I know that being like him… being Wolverine… it's a big job. I can't… I can't do that."

He nodded, "You just always struck me, out of all of them, as the one who would eventually take his place in the end."

I swallowed nervously, "Yeah, well, don't get your hopes up. Logan's gonna be around for a long time anyways. Healing factor makes him to hard to get rid of, like a cockroach really."

Batman was silent for a moment. "Don't put your hope in that."

I swallowed again, the thought of Logan actually dying crossing my mind, and he continued, "Your vacation time is granted."

I sighed, "Good, now to just tell the team."

Me? Taking after Logan? Replacing him? Insanity. Impossible. Laura was better than me at fighting, she should be the one teaching them. Rahne, well I was better at fighting than her, but at the same time, she'd probably be better at teaching. Compaired to me, she was encouraging and thoughtful. Rogue, well it wasn't so hard for her to teach, she's filled in for Logan before, but she never expressed a permanent interest in the job. There's so many of us, why would he think I would be the one to take over in the end?

* * *

><p>"Take me with you." Conner said. Well, he didn't really say it, he was more… demanding it.<p>

I groaned, "Conner, I'll only be gone for a few days, not long enough for you to miss me. I'll be back soon." _Not long enough for Daken to try anything._

"Why are you leaving again?" Artemis asked from her spot on the sofa. Suspicious as always.

"Visiting Lovette." I said, shrugging, "It was Logan's idea, and I haven't seen her in awhile."

"Why did she have to leave in the first place?" Robin asked.

"None of your business." I said firmly. The minute they found out my past, they'd avoid me, like nearly everyone on Utopia X. Artemis, maybe not her, she could understand that sort of thing, but Megan? We were just starting to get along, and as much as I really don't care about her friendship, everyone else liked her.

Conner crossed his arms, "We're losing our instructor because of it, we have a right to know."

I growled, "For a few days! Grow up!"

Robin cleared his throat, "Look, Mio, if you're in some kind of trouble, tell us. We can help you out, you know that, right?"

I shook my head, "I don't need-"

"Oh for crying out loud! Would you just tell them! They're in danger because of it, they have a right to know about it, and you know it." Jubilee piped up.

They looked from her to me and I sighed, "Okay, here's the deal. Lovette is in danger because my good for nothing, murdering, psychopathic, non-empathetic, life ruining, monster of a **father **is trying to get to me by threatening her life. If my suspicions are correct, you six may be next on his list."

For about five seconds, there was silence, then, Robin piped up, "Could you repeat that?"

"Yeah." Wally said, "You kind of lost me at murdering."

"Lovette's in trouble?" Megan questioned, worried.

"How long have you known about this?" Kaldur asked gently.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Conner asked, furious.

"Shut up!" I screamed. The quickly stopped talking and I took a deep breath, "OK, Robin, to make it short, my father is threatening me with Lovette's life. Wally, Robin can catch you up to speed. Megan, yes, she's in danger, which is why I'm leaving. Kaldur, I've known Lovette wasn't safe at Utopia X since last night, same time I found out he was targeting you all as well."

I turned to Conner, "And I didn't tell you, because until now, it WASN'T YOUR PROBLEM!"

"Not my problem?" He asked, not believing what I had said. "Their lives are in danger, Lovette is in danger, and I'm going to go ahead and guess you're in danger too! Still think it's not my problem!"

Kaldur put a hand on Conner's shoulder, "Superboy, calm down." He turned to me, "You kept this information form the team, why?"

"I didn't think he posed any real threat for now." I said, "I was going to leave Jubilee here with you, so just incase he did somehow get in, she could make sure you didn't get hurt."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Robin interjected, "Okay, why on Earth would Logan try to kill you, Lovette, or any of us?"

Jubilee gave me a nervous look, and I froze. I had used the word _father_. Curse my mouth! Curse my stupid mouth! Okay, two options… either lie and run, or tell the truth.

"Uh…"

Robin's eyes widened, "He didn't get kidnapped and brain washed again did he?"

Wally's eyes widened, "Again? How much messed up stuff goes on your family?"

"If I told you, you're head would explode." I said, shrugging, trying to dance around Robin's question.

"No avoiding the question!" He snapped, "What's going on with Wolverine!"

"Yeah if your **dad **needs help, tell us, you know we can help you out." Artemis said.

"The team will always have your back. Just say the word and we _will _help your **father**." Kaldur pitched in.

Crap… now they think Logan's in trouble, but he's not!

"Yeah, your **dad's **our **dad**." Wally said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

Stop talking! I wanted to shout.

"Just tell us what's going on!" Conner shouted, "I mean, if your **Dad**-"

"Logan's not my father!" I screamed, claming my hands over my ears. I took in a deep breath, trying to calm down. The secret I had been trying to keep hidden… now it was out in the open. How long before the rejection started? Or even better, the dirty looks? The judgment?

"W- what?" Asked Robin.

Conner stared at me, every one stared at me. "Ugh." Jubilee groaned, slapping her face with her hand.

"I've known you for years!" Robin exclaimed. "How could you lie to me about that!"

"You never asked." I mumbled, glaring at the ground. "You just assumed he was my father."

"Are you…" Conner started, "Are you a clone?"

"No." I said, sighing, "I was pretty much born the normal way."

Artemis snorted, "Pretty much?"

"Well, I was born three months to early, but other than that, I was fine." I shrugged.

Wally rolled his eyes, "Whatever dude, why wouldn't you tell us!"

"It was personal." I defended.

"We started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us!" Wally shouted.

"Because they didn't trust us with 'personal information'." Robin snapped, throwing up air quotes.

"It was my choice to keep my past a secret. I have a right to privacy, and my father isn't something I'm proud of." I stressed.

Artemis stepped up, silencing Wally and Robin, and then turning to me, "Mio, just tell us… who is your father?"

I watched them, as they watched me, waiting for the answer. I swallowed, and stared at the floor for a moment. No matter how far I run, I can't be free of him. No matter what I do, no matter how many lie's I tell, I'm still always found out in the end, and then I'm suddenly the outcast. The one always kept at arms length. Even at Utopia X, I could see it in their eyes, the distrust, the fear.

And the instant I tell them, everything I've worked for here, it'll all burn down.

_Hold your head high. Don't ever let them defy the light in your eyes. Love yourself, and give them Hell._

I know Mom, but this is… important to me. I love these kids. I don't want lose them.

_If you want something, you've gotta fight for it sweetie._

But, I don't know if I can win this one.

_You just stand and be strong, don't ever give up, remember, fight like a girl._

I nodded to myself. Okay Mom.

I looked up at them, "My father is Daken Akihiro."


	13. Tell Me Where Have You Been?

Two seconds… Three seconds… Four seconds… Five-

"What?" Robin asked, clearing upset, "I've known you for four years, who wouldn't you tell me he was your father!"

"My business." I said firmly, crossing my arms. _Stand firm, keep fighting. They will not bring you down because of your father._

"No, we're a team, and you had no right to keep it from us!" Wally exclaimed.

I was bout to shout, No, you're the team, I'm not! Artemis stepping foreword stopped me, as she struck Wally across the face.

"She had every right!" She yelled, as Wally stood there, looking at her in shock. "Her personal business is her own! You have no right to force her to tell you that, even if we might be in danger, she was taking precautions to prevent us being harmed. So don't you dare preach to her about keeping secrets, don't tell her she had no right Wallace!"

Wally paused for a long time, everyone else paused too. Artemis had hit Wally before, but never like that, and she certainly had never called him Wallace, or spoken to him like this.

Robin broke the silence, "Mio, we're not going to hate you just because of him, we just… we trusted you."

Kaldur nodded, "You always tell us that trust is a key element in a team."

"I'm pretty sure Canary told you that, but I'll take credit for it." I mumbled, "And, you don't know what it's like to be judged, to be hated, to be treated as a ticking time bomb, just because of the man who ruined your life, and just so happens to be your father as well."

Conner snorted, "At least he acknowledges you."

"Acknowledges me? I wish he'd just leave me alone! At least your's doesn't try to kill you!" I snapped, "At least he has the decency to leave you be!"

"Decency?" Conner roared, "He kills me every time he looks away!"

"Yeah? Mine kills me, literally, every time I see him!" I snapped back, "Don't try and tell me you've got it bad! I know what real Daddy problems are like Conner Kent, don't lecture me!"

Robin stepped in between us, "Enough, we get it, you both have sob stories, get over it already!"

"Easy for you to say." Conner mumbled.

"You'll never know what I'm going through Robin." I snapped, "Your father _loved _you."

Megan spoke up, "Anyway, let's focus on the matter of hand, we might be on Daken's list, remember? Why?"

I glared at her, "Because you got to close to _me_. This always happens, I get to relaxed with someone, a friend, and Daken, it's like he lives just to make me miserable by taking it away."

Finally, he just looked past her shoulder at me, and nodded slowly, "We'll be coming with you."

Robin nodded, "All of us."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Artemis cut me off. "Nothing you say is going to change our minds, because we've already decided."

"Yay!" Megan said, jumping up, "Road trip!"

Conner didn't say anything, just crossed his arms and glared at me, daring me to refuse.

Kaldur smiled down at me, "If we won't be intruding that is."

I sighed, slapping my forehead, and Kaldur cleared his throat nervously, "If it's inconvenient for you-"

"I should have stopped at one." I snapped.

"What?" Kaldur asked, confused.

"Just train this one kid." I said, imitating Batman's voice. Then I went back to mine. "I don't know, I mean, I'm barley a teenager myself, and I'm not a good example." I went back to batman's voice, "Don't be ridiculous, it's not like you'll be in charge of the whole team."

I growled, punching the wall, "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!" I punched the wall with each word, then jerked away from it, pacing back and forth, "Of course something like this would happen! You take on one side kick, then you end up saddled with six!" (Batman's gonna be saying that in awhile, huh?)

Jubilee laughed, "Yeah, guess what? Logan probably said that right around when _you _showed up! First came Rogue, then me, then Kitty, then Rahne, then Laura, and now there's _you_! The sixth side kick!"

I sighed, holding my head in my hands, then took a deep breath. "Final decisions up to Batman."

Robin smirked, handing my an envelope, "Just threaten him that you'll give these to everyone he knows, even civilians."

I opened the envelope, and my eyes bulged, "Is that Catwoman?"

"Yep." He said smirking.

I stuffed the picture into my pocket, "Why Don't you just threaten him with it?"

"I _live _with him. He's got a twenty-four hour shot at my neck."

"Good point." I said, "Ok I'll ask him, pack your bags kiddies, you're going to the beach!"

Needless to say, after Batman nearly fainted at the picture he agreed to it, tell the rest of their mentors that they would be going on a beneficial training experience at Utopia X. Translation: field trip.

A quick call to Professor X set everything up for us.

* * *

><p>"So, are we taking the bio ship?" Megan asked, smiling, eager to fly her favorite... aline... thing?<p>

"Nope." I said, pointing into the sky, as the Black Bird came into view.

"Whoa." Wally commented, slipping his goggles on, "What are the chances of me driving that slick little beauty?"

"Slim to none." I said firmly, as it landed with nearly no sound.

The door opened, and we all slowly entered. I looked around for who was flying it, and a girn threatened to break out on my face when I heard her voice.

"Well shugah, it's about time ya came down for a visit." Rogue said, the southern belle herself sitting behind the wheel.

I suppressed the grin, going instead for a smirk, "To busy to come over every weekend Rogue, den mother duties and all that."

She laughed, turning to the team, "Nice to meet ya'll, ya been keepin' Mio outta trouble?"

Megan smiled, "Actually, it's vice versa."

Rogue laughed, "I'll bet." Her eyes traveled to Conner, "This the young buck Jubilee won't shut up about?"

Jubilee piped up, "Sure is."

"What?" Conner asked.

"She won't stop talkin' about you shugah." Rogue said again, smiling at him, "Keeps goin' on about how you're the only boy she knows who'll put up with mah little sister."

Conner shrugged, "Uh… yeah I guess."

I snorted, "Okay, you clearly know them all, guys, this is Rogue. One of Logan's litter, and my favorite sister."

"Hey!" Jubilee complained.

"Truth be spoken or tongue be held." I shrugged.

Rogue rolled her eyes, "Forget it Jube, she's just pickin' on ya."

"Nice plane." Artemis commented, sitting down.

"Can I drive home?" I asked.

"Ah just ate lunch shugah, so no." Rogue said, as I walked away from her.

"Spoil sport." I accused.

She shrugged, "No, I just don't wanna lose mah lunch."

I snorted, sitting down next to Conner, "Funny."

He looked at me, "Your family always like this?"

"Most of us." I said, shrugging. "You should see us when we all try to have dinner together. First we argue about staying home or going out, and either way we argue about what to make or where to eat. Then it's about who cooks, or who drives, it takes us nearly an hour just to get that all sorted out. And Rahne takes forever to find out what she wants to eat, then Jubilee sometimes get's us kicked out of the restaurant, once, Logan nearly snapped the waiters neck."

"Why?' Conner asked, bewildered.

"He hit on Laura." I said.

"You don't talk about your sisters much." He noted.

"Same goes for them, they don't really talk about me. We're just that kind of family. If a stranger doesn't ask, they could be totally convinced we're an only child. Then Logan makes us bring them to a family dinner. Then they usually freak out with all the girls and arguing." I explained.

"Was Jake one of them?" Conner asked.

"Why so interested in Jake?" I asked, frowning. He was opening some old wounds.

"Well, from what I can tell, he's the only _other _guy who put up with you." He smirked.

"He didn't freak out, partly because he met Rahne and Rogue before the whole family. Logan made him break out into a sweat within the first three minutes though. Set a new record."

"Don't sugar coat it!" Jubilee called back to me.

"… I liked it better when she didn't have super hearing." I mumbled, then sighed.

Jubilee shouted out again, "First thirty seconds! He had him sweating like a pig!"

"Why would anyone think Logan was intimidating, he seemed nice when I saw him." Conner said.

Rogue and Jubilee busted out laughing, and I snickered, "You haven't seen him in Daddy mode."

"I thought you said Daken was your father." Conner said, confused.

Suddenly the plane dipped, and everyone yelped, then Rogue righted the plane, "Sorry honey, ya spooked me."

"Let me rephrase that, Daddy/Grand Daddy mode." I mended.

"Oh." Conner said, and then the rest of the trip was silent. Silent enough for me to let my mind wander. Wander back to the Dark Avengers, my first, or maybe second, big mistake.

Back then, I hadn't known Daken was my father. Back then, I hadn't known anything about my father. I had just thought Daken and I had similar powers, and I had come to respect him for his skills.

They had all known, Venom, Norman, Daken, all of them. How they managed to keep it a secret from me for three months was beyond me. Then, Bulls Eye had been arguing with Daken one day, like usual. I had been several rooms away, but thanks to super hearing, it wasn't hard to hear the conversation.

Bulls Eye yelled at Daken for being cold hearted and selfish, and Daken had said, "Like you?"

The Bulls Eye had gotten so mad, he let the secret slip, "No, you're _worse_! You don't even _care _enough for your own _daughter _to even tell her the _truth_, let alone do anything for her! How long are you going to just let her keep believing that apart from that annoying _kid_, she's all alone in this world?"

I had never heard of Daken having a daughter before, and from the sound of it, he didn't treat her that well. Annoying kid? His daughter or some friend of hers?

Before then, Daken had just been a friend of mine. Not even a good friend. Our relationship was pretty much me admiring his skills, to the extent of wanting to be like him, and him being my 'mentor' in the Dark Avengers. That was the only condition Norman had given, mostly because I was under eighteen. That was the only relationship we had, it was nothing beyond that.

"Mio is none of your concern." Daken had growled, and then walked out of the room him and Bulls Eye had been in.

Yeah, it had been obvious then. Running away hadn't been hard, getting Lovette out of the tower with me was simple. Hot wiring the car took about three minutes, mostly because my hands wouldn't stop shaking. Getting out of the city was easy too, I took the back roads, and I took them fast. Then, on one turn, I took it to fast, and the car rolled.

Lovette screamed, and I grabbed her, pulling her into my chest as the car rolled, so none of the breaking glass would touch her.

As soon as the car stopped, I jumped through the now windowless windshield with her tucked under one arm, using my pheromones to try and cover up the scent as I took off through the woods, how long until they knew I was gone? They probably already knew. How long until they gave chase? If they did at all.

The job was an offer, not a requirement, so they might not pursue me, but then again… they might.

I had waited for the day I found my father, trained for it, so I could kill him, but it turns out the only man I respected, the man I actually admired for his skill, was the man I had to kill.

I couldn't beat him, sparring with him had made that painfully clear. Literally, _painfully _clear.

It scared me, the fact that he was so much better than me, to the point where he could probably kill me without using his hands. It was confusing, the man I had vowed to kill for not being there for my mother and me, was the man who was training me, so I could kill my father.

Lovette wouldn't stop crying, asking "What's going on?" "Why are we running away?" And the one that hurt me the most, "Why can't we just go home?"

I got to tired eventually, running with about fifty pounds of crying toddler will do that to you. So, I stopped, setting Lovette down and collapsing onto my knees, panting.

"Mio, what's going on?" Lovette asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"We're... running… away." I gasped.

"Why!" She sobbed, wiping her eyes. She was scared, she had just been in a car crash, and then had been dragged through the woods, who knows how many miles we had come.

"Because… they… were… trying to… use us Lovette." I said, slowly gaining my breath back.

"No they weren't!" She protested, "They were nice to us Mio! It was nice there, everything was… clean, and it was warm." She sobbed a little harder, "I don't want live on the streets again Mio!"

I bit my tongue, and then let it go slowly. "You won't. I'll make sure of it."

I could drop Lovette off at a group home, they'd find a foster family for a cute little kid like her pronto. She'd be off the streets, safe, warm, well fed. I'd check up on her every once and awhile.

"But… they were nice! I thought you liked it there too." She said, begging me with her words.

"We have to leave." I mumbled.

"Why?" She whispered, eager for the truth.

"Daken… he's my… I think he's my father." I said whispering the last part.

"Well, you're right." came a voice from behind me.

I rolled foreword, grabbing Lovette mid roll and yanking her behind me as I stood up, facing Daken straight foreword. He stood there, his signature smirk on his face. I hated that smirk, the one where he would grin ear to ear, showing only his top teeth. It made me think that he knew what I was going to do, and he was already three, no, _thirty _steps ahead.

He chuckled at me, "Question is, what are you gonna do?"

"Why?" I growled, my voice had never sounded more animalistic to me.

"Why what?" He asked, his smirk now a relaxed smile, as if he was putting up with a temper tantrum from a five year old.

"Why didn't you-" I wanted to ask him why he didn't tell me, but I already knew that. "Why weren't you there?"

"You mean there for your mother? The woman you keep going on about? The one who you watched get shot by some Hydra foot soldier?" He taunted.

"Don't you talk about her!" I barked. "You lost that right the minute you left her with a baby and no way to make ends meet! If you ever talk about her again, I'll kill you!"

He just laughed, not a chuckle, not a snicker, a flat out laugh. "You talk like you actually could! But I'll grace you with an answer, the reason is simple. I didn't care about her, to tell you the truth, I don't even remember her."

I leapt at him in a blind furry, aiming my adamantium claws for his face. He easily countered with his bone claws, shoving me off, and then plunging his claws into my stomach, and ripping them out, cutting through organs and muscle with ease.

I screamed as he kicked my sternum, sending my tumbling back. I hugged my sides tightly, trying to keep entrails from seeping out, "Lovette, run!"

Lovette took off running, and I stood up, biting my tongue, trying to think away the pain. I didn't even see him fly at me, I just felt the claws, sinking into me and slashing, cutting, tearing… making each little prick as painful as possible.

I tried to block, but I was weak back then. He carried on, hitting me while I backed up into a tree, and he pinned me to it with one arm, and really started to dig into me with his other. Any attempts to kick him off or bat his claws away failed, and after several minutes of it, I just hung limp, tears threatening to spill and biting my tongue so hard, it started to bleed, just like the rest of me, until he let me drop. I landed into a pile/puddle of my blood that had seeped down into the ground, and little bits of muscle and organ. O had never felt pain like thus before, it was like… how I imagined fish felt when they were skinned alive after being caught. I couldn't move, and I was afraid to breath. If he thought I was dead, I sure didn't want to prove him wrong. He would want to be right…

He turned around, and walked away from me, "If you want to leave, fine, but don't expect me to be empathetic when everyone rejects you because of me."

I laid there for so long, feeling my wounds close up slowly. To many things to do had slowed my healing factor down, and it was painfully slow. Literally, _painfully_.

I hadn't known what he meant back then, all I could really think about was the pain, and it wasn't for about twenty minutes until the pain faded away to nothing.

Looking back, I now know what he meant that day, and I can honestly say, I've been on the receiving end of judgmental people, racists, mobs of mutant haters, and people who were just plain crazy all my life, but I have never known the kind of hatred people gave me when they learned my father was Daken.

Conner shook me out of my thoughts by putting a hand on my knee. I looked up at him, "What?"

"You just seemed… sad." he mumbled, looking away, and removing his hand.

I looked around the jet at all the people here, and the others we would see at the mansion. Yeah, my father had been right. There were a lot of kids at the mansion that hated me, or at least kept me at arms length, actually, for every person that cared about my, there were ten people I knew that hated me, or kept me at arms length. If you counted all the people that I didn't know about that hated, me there was probably one hundred for every one person.

I smiled a little, shooting a glance at Conner from the corner of my eyes. _You were right Daken, but it's all worth it, just to have one person who cares. You'd know that, maybe if you cared about anything._


	14. Friends, Enemies, and Grandpa's

_This is Mio thinking or a special emphasis on a word._

**This is Lovette playing a song.**

This is something being read form a piece of paper, not out loud.

STORY BEGINS

When the Black Bird landed, Kitty and Rahne ran into the hanger to meet us. Rahne waited outside, but Kitty just fazed through the door, wrapping me into an immediate hug, "Mio! I missed you so much!" She pulled away, smiling, "I'm mean, it hasn't been the same without you."

The door opened and Rahne walked in, "You mean class hasn't been the same. I kind of miss Summers running in with some complaint, like salt in his shampoo, and blaming you immediately." She winked, "Still haven't confessed to that one, have you?"

"Deny to the grave." I smirked.

Rogue laughed, shaking her head at us, "Logan's been actin' a bit down eva since ya left, and Lovette's been the same."

"Well, I'm here now, where is the little ankle bitter?" I asked.

"MIO!" Screamed Lovette, running into the room and latching onto my leg. I expected her to start babbling about how much she missed me, but instead, she pulled away, "I learned a new song!"

"Really?" I asked. She was always hearing new songs, and wanted to use her power of manipulating vibrations to play them like a human radio.

"Wanna here it?" She asked.

"Sure." I said, no avoiding it.

"**Ya know ya love me, I know ya care." **She played.

My eyes widened, "Oh no-"

"**Just shout whenever, and I'll be there."**

I bit my lip, _Why this song? Why me?_

"**Ya want my love, ya want my heart, and we will never ever ever be apart."**

My glare turned to Kitty, glaring, "I know it was you."

She shrugged, laughing nervously, "She got into my CD collection."

"Who has CD's anymore?" I mumbled

"**Are we an item? Girl quite playing. We're just friends? What are you saying?" **She broadcasted, in the annoyingly high, and surprisingly male voice. **"Say there's another, now look right in my eyes. My first love broke my heart for the first time."**

Conner covered his ears, and Megan started nodding her head to the beat, while Rahne just made a break for it, shouting, "Come with me if you want to live!" Curse that Scottish wolf…

"**And I was like, baby, baby, baby oh! Baby, baby, baby, no! Thought you'd always be mine."**

Now, I was stuck with a new Bieber Nation addict, and a dancing alien. By the end of that song, I wanted to claw my ears off. Or shoot myself through the auditory canal. Which ever one hurt worse.

Finally, I shrugged Lovette off of that song, and got her talking instead of broadcasting. As soon as I walked through the halls, following Rahne's scent to find everyone, I could immediately feel the change in the air. People stared, whispered, and looked away when I tried to make eye contact. Just like before. I think it really had more to do with the fact I was related to Logan then the fact I was related to one of the more dangerous enemies of the X-men.

Most of the kids here were scared of Logan, because they had no back bone, they feared his training sessions, they had seen him go into a rage in the danger room before, or the more rare option, they were one of Scott's little pets. Anyone who sided with Scott either hated, or feared Logan. Pretty much just feared.

I tracked her scent to the lunch room, where I found them sitting down at one of the larger tables, laughing and eating the bland cafeteria food. I dragged Lovette over with me, sitting between Jubilee and Conner.

"Hey Mio." Conner greeted, smiling at me.

"Hi. What goes on?" I asked.

"Everyone keeps staring at your friends." Rahne said, chuckling, "They're new meat, remember?"

My eyes narrowed, "Crap."

"What?" Artemis asked.

"New meat means initiation." Jubilee said, smirking.

Rogue nodded, "Mio ova here skipped right ova hers. Neva went through it."

"I refuse." I said, repeating what I had said all those years ago. Right after that I had made a mad dash to the air vents, and I had hid there for three days. "Besides, they're not new meat, they're just visiting, after a few days, we'll all be going back to Happy Harbor."

Kaldur nodded, "The team will not be joining the X-men under any circumstances. I fell it would be inappropriate, none of us are mutants, and I would not wish to offend anyone."

Rogue shrugged, "Careful about talkin to loud shugah, some might be offended just at you visitin."

"Are they really that sensitive to people other than mutants staying here?" Megan asked.

"Well Megan, you have green skin, telepathy, and telekinesis, here you'll be accepted instantly. Wally has super speed, and we might be able to pass him off as a prodigy because of his brain but that lie would only last a few seconds. Conner has super strength, super hearing, and other talents I'm sure will develop over time. Robin, we could probably pass him off as having some low key power like enhanced reflexes and mind power. Artemis, we could pass you off with super sight and enhanced reflexes, again, low key. Kaldur, we could tell everybody he has water and electricity manipulation. That should keep you all safe for our stay here, and you'll all fit right in." I explained, "If we tell the truth, it might start a riot. Seriously, so use those lies like a high school girl uses eyeliner."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "They hate humans that much?"

"Humans have hated and condemned us since our species was discovered. We've been hunted down, forced to reveal ourselves, treated as outcasts, and some of us have been unfortunate enough to have been… experimented on like lab rats. They'll take in a powerful mutant, wipe their memory clean, and then train them, teach them, to be a weapon, usually to be turned on their own kind." I explained, and a silence fell over the table.

Robin finally cleared his throat, "Well, I here you guys have an awesome training room."

"The Danger Room?" Asked Rahne, a smirk spreading over her face. "You'll wanna avoid that as long as you can. Mio will shove you in there soon enough."

Conner spoke up, shattering the attempt Robin made at a subject change, "You talk like you were made into a weapon, and experimented on. Is that true?"

I stared at my plate, really just hoping he wasn't talking to me. I slowly looked up, and saw him looking directly at me, the emotionless yet slightly curious expression he wore so often lightly gracing his features.

I looked at my plate again, cafeteria food sucked, and I wasn't hungry anymore anyways. I stood up, and walked out, biting my lip and trying not to look back at them.

I was walking through the deserted hallway, when suddenly I tripped over something, something really solid. I grunted, catching myself, and standing up, looking at my attacker, Hellion.

He stood there, leaning against one of the lockers, munching on an apple, "Long time no see Mutt."

"Hello Julian." I said, glaring at him with crossed arms, "Going to use TK to try and give me a swirly again?"

He snorted, "Last time I tried that, you sliced the toilet in half, then tried to do the same to me."

"Want me to do it again?" I asked.

"You still holding a grudge on me for that?" He asked, taking another bite of the apple.

You didn't bother to find a clean toilet." I reminded.

"Not like I actually dunked you in." He reminded.

"The intent was clear, anata wa, orokana, yōchina, chūmoku no katsubō, tai wa hīrōdearu." _The intent was clear, you stupid, childish, attention craving, wanna be hero._

"That didn't sound nice." He said, swallowing, and raising an eyebrow.

"The thing I love most about speaking in Japanese is that almost no one here knows what I'm saying." I said, smirking and walking away.

"I'm not done catching up with you yet." He called after me.

"See if I care." I said, but when I tried to go further, I walked into a TK shield. I turned around, seeing him smirking at me, and tossing his apple core into a nearby trash can.

"Don't try to play games with me Mutt, you're playing with the big boys now, remember?"

"You just jealous I was given a job by Batman himself, and you weren't?" I asked, smirking.

He shrugged, "If Batman wants to take a gamble on you instead of someone more experienced, that's his business. I've got a good thing going here, and I don't intend to leave it. How's that group of stupid kids Young Justice going by the way?"

I glared at him, "None of your business, now are you going to take the shield down, or do I have to stab you?"

He chuckled, "Stab me."

I walked towards him, but walked right into another TK shield. "Would you cut that out?"

"You're fun to mess with Mutt." He said, smirking.

"Really, I thought you picked on me to get Laura's attention." I snapped, touching the shield with my hand, and lightly pressing against it. "Is this some way to get her attention back after she took off without you?"

He growled, "Shut up about things you don't understand, and we both know you don't understand that." His frown turned into a smirk, "You're still nothing more than a weapon, you don't understand feelings."

"Neither does Laura!" I protested.

"Yeah, but at least someone likes Laura, someone willing to teach her about it, me. No one's there for you. Not after Jake found out what a psycho you are and ran away screaming his head off, literally." He smirked, knowing he had won, and the shield under my hand vanished.

He turned around, walking away, "Nice talking to you Mutt, as always."

I growled, what did Laura see in that guy? I shook my head, walking down the hallways I had spent four years in, three in middle school, and only one in high school. I had been in tenth grade in Happy Harbor high school, and it was better there than here, mostly because no one knew me.

I walked out the front door, heading where I knew I could get peace. I smirked as I came up on the door, hearing a suddenly crash, and then a colorful stream of curses erupt from that were tainted by the Canadian accent.

I walked into Logan's garage, smirking as I saw him trying to stop an oil leak from the X-van, wearing his old cowboy hat. He hardly wore that around the kids, usually just when he was alone, or in a good mood.

"I wouldn't let Professor X hear you talking like that."

He turned around, a grin spreading over his face, "Hey kid."

"Don't worry, I won't tell on ya." I promised, grabbing the oil stained towel from his work bench and walking over, crouching down next to him. "As long as you don't tell on me for skipping out on a few visits to friends today."

He smirked, taking the towel and mopping off the oil covering his face. "Sure thing kid. Wanna help me with my rounds?"

I nodded, and we started working on each car, doing routine checks and fixing up some of the ones that didn't quite make the cut. Took me back a few years, when I was twelve, fresh out of the Dark Avengers, thinking I knew everything. Even after Daken had knocked me down a few bars, I wasn't counting on everyone else doing that too.

Logan did it more than anyone, constantly showing me that none of my skills were as adequate as I thought. Teasing me about my low scores on the danger room, how I could barley drive a car let alone the X-van, my difficulty with speaking English, my low grades, and the fact I always talked bigger than I was.

At first I thought he was like Daken, disrespecting me and calling me pathetic. Then I decided that I wasn't going to let him talk about me that way, and I had really applied myself for the first time in my life.

Even I was surprised at how fast I had taken to real training, instead of Hydra brainwashing. With a little of Logan's instruction, I had quickly risen through the ranks, and had proved that I deserved to be a Howlett.

Logan began to recognize my potential, and had seen to it I had been placed in the team I wanted, which was originally Paragons, but shortly after joining me and Wolf Cub had gotten into a heated argument, I don't even remember what it was about. We had both started shoving, and in a matter of seconds, we were both ripping each others guts out.

After we calmed down, we had both decided we wouldn't be able to work together, and I offered to leave the team, he was there first after all.

After looking through some files, I had decided the only ones who didn't have a team mate on there I hated, or a team mate who's name I hated, was the Hellions. Emma Frost had been a bit of a red flag, but I managed to get over that. It was Hellion I couldn't get used to, him and his supid mouth!

It was like all he wanted to do was tease me about my accent, or make fun of me when I couldn't pronounce some of the words at all! He'd tell me that if I was looking for the 'special' class room, I must have missed it, or something else that made fun of my language disability.

Once, Hellion had put up which Danger Room session plan we did, and had immediately looked at me, "I'm guessing you want to just charge in, right?"

I had said, "No, I think we should… should… uh" I struggled to remember the right word. How did everyone here speak English so well? I learned Chinese easily, why was English so hard? It was the most impossible language ever!

They all looked at me expectantly, and finally Wither had spoken up, "What? We should what?"

My face turned a deep red, and I stared at the floor, then just mumbled, "Uh… cornucopia?"

Hellion had a field day with that one.

Logan spoke up, shaking me form my thoughts. "I said the size eight wrench."

I looked up, seeing him holding out his hand. I grabbed the wrench, handing it to him quickly.

"What's on your mind kid?" He asked.

I smiled, "You remember my first week in The Hellions?"

"How could I? You broken Hellion's left wrist, and gave him a minor puncture wound." He reminded me.

I chuckled, "In my defense, he was asking for it."

"Course he was." Logan smirked.

I shook my head slowly, then frowned, "I spent four years training my claws off… and nothing changed."

He raised an eyebrow, grabbing a beer off the counter and using a claw to take off the cap. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He can still beat me." I mumbled. "I still don't stand a chance."

"Not true." Logan dismissed.

I looked up at him, and he continued, "I remember when you wouldn't have been able to even touch him, but on that mission with the Injustice League, you got your fair share of hits on him."

"Not enough to matter." I said, crossing my legs and staring at my knees.

"That's fear talkin." He said firmly. "You're improving."

"Not fast enough." I said, shaking my head. "I'm still not able to protect her. I… still have to depend on other people to protect Lovette, like a college kid using his mom's credit card."

Logan put his hand on my shoulder, "Mio," He hardly ever used my real name, so when he did I knew he was serious. "You've only been doing this seriously for five years, Daken's been doing this since he was born. The fact you're able to get hits on him already, that makes me more proud than you'll ever know."

He stood up, grabbing another beer off the counter, "In fact." He sat back down, popping the top off of it, "We never celebrated that." He handed me the beer, and I took it, raising an eyebrow. He tapped his to mine, and then too a long gulp of his, then looked pointedly at me.

"I thought you said I was to young to drink this." I reminded him.

"You turned sixteen two weeks ago, I sent you a card." He replied.

"Oh, yeah." I took a hesitant sip, and nearly choked. I had always thought it would be like soda, but it was entirely different. It had a nasty bite to it, and all I wanted to do was spit it out, but before I could, the bite went away, and all that was left was an interesting flavor that I couldn't really place. I swallowed, and felt the bite again as it went down my throat, but that faded too.

I looked up at Logan, and he smiled, "Well?"

"I like it." I said, taking another sip, prepared for the bite this time, and finding it slightly more tolerable.

Logan nodded, taking another swig of his, "Now, if Chuck asks-"

"This never happened." I finished.

"Good girl." He said, messing my hair up.


	15. I won't say it!

After the beer was empty, I was ready to go face the world. Logan knew something was up with me, I never usually came to the garage unless I was bored, or something was wrong, but he didn't question it. He never asked many questions, he would just teach you about fighting, or cars, or random things. He taught me to throw knives once, never actually used the skill before, but it was fun to learn.

You never had to really talk about anything with Logan, hanging out with him just help you remember there was still good things in the world. Still some things that will never change. Like the sun being yellow, or rain falling down instead of up. Little things you could count on. Little things that you didn't notice much, but were still there.

A student worth going to work to teach. Conner.

A friend you'd go to war for. The whole Young Justice team.

A little sister you could always count on to both annoy you, and comfort you. Lovette.

A certain teach who hates you, but respects you at the same time. Emma Frost.

A friend/enemy to make you remember to stay strong. Hellion.

A bunch of big sisters to remind you there were people who had your back. Logan's litter.

A certain guy you just love messing with. Scott Summers.

With all that at my finger tips, how could I keep dwelling on a little temporary drawback? Strength was a funny thing, you could always get more of it, but no matter what, you couldn't lose it once you had it. Like a battle scar.

I know several people who've left the hero business, they still to push ups and sit ups in the morning to stay strong. They'll say it's a force of habit, but it's not. It's because, deep down, you never really loose that look in your eye. You never loose that little pricking at your heart, that tells you to keep fighting.

I smiled, walking back up to the mansion. In time, I would get better. I just needed more training, and eventually, it would all work out. What was the rush?

Daken wouldn't get her again. I'd make sure of it. If I have to stay here for fifty years to make sure of it, I would. I smirked at that, fifty years was nothing for me.

I was looking at hundreds, maybe thousands, of years left, I didn't need to rush anything. Hellion, Emma, Scott, Magneto, and all the others here who judged me, I'd be rid of them soon enough. I would outlive them all, by many centuries. What was the rush? There was none.

When I stepped into the hallways again, it was flooding with students, last class of the day, and they wanted it to be over with! There were hardly as many as before, only enough for a team or two. M-day had really dwindled them down.

I didn't consider myself a mutant anymore, not a real one. I was an entirely different species. I'll come up with a name for it one of these days. Howlites? Ugh, I suck at this.

I weaved my way through the small crowd, and made it to my old room, opening the door slowly, letting the memories sink in.

All those late night, cramming for tests, and praying for no pop quizzes. All those afternoons, teaching Lovette Japanese, and learning English from Logan. I had studied Chinese on the side, and it was fairly similar to Japanese in sentence structure, so it was easy to learn for me. I can't speak it extremely well, but I can write it and read it with relative ease.

I closed the door, walking along the hall until I got to Summer's class. I knocked on the door, and he called form inside, "Come in."

I opened the door, smirking, and leaned on the door frame, "Miss me, Boy Scout?"

His face paled, "Oh no."

I nodded, "Oh yes. I'd lock up your shampoo and tooth paste if I was you. Cause I brought potassium cyanide with me." I gave a nod to the kids in the classroom. "Hell Hound's back."

I closed the door, walking out, and just feeling great. So what if I used to be a lab rat? That was behind me, and I had no reason to keep dwelling on it. Cause now, I was just a pain in Scott's ass again. Happy endings do come true, couldn't be better.

Next stop? Find the kiddies.

I walked to the danger room, and saw Rogue explaining how it worked to Robin and the rest of the team, but Robin was the only one who was looking at everything with complete and utter awe. "Batman don't have anything like this?" I asked.

They turned around, and Megan gave Conner a pointed look. He cleared his throat, "I'm-"

"Don't apologize. I over reacted. Yes, to answer your question, I was kidnapped and experimented on for about a year. I got away as soon as I could and four years later, I'm all good." I explained.

"He nodded, "It's just.. I was-"

"Hopeful that there was someone else like you." I finished. "You don't like being the only one who had their humanity taken from them, and I understand."

He smiled slightly, nodding, and I turned to the rest of the team, "Who wants to train with Def Con 4?"

Rogue's eyes widened, "Uh, are you sure-"

"Rogue, my team." I reminded.

"Oh… yeah." Rogue said, and set the standards.

"Okay, we'll be setting the lasers on 'kill' so don't get hit no matter what." I ordered, and sent them down. "Rogue, set the lasers on stunt, not kill."

She smirked, and did it, then started the session, while I watched in interest. I remember going up against this when I was still a rookie. Logan failed to tell me the lasers where on stun too.

I watched intently as they dodged lasers and metal claws popping up every so often, Robin and Artemis weaved through them, while Megan floated above them flying around and dodging them, crushing a few claws with her mind. Kaldur would put up shield of water, to defend himself. Wally would just run around, trying to not get hit. I looked over at Conner, and saw him Jumping, ducking, rolling, and constantly moving, not a single laser had hit him.

I grabbed the microphone, "Megan, please stop breaking things, the object is to last as long as you can, not fight back."

She screamed out, "OKAY!" Before resuming her flight pattern.

I turned to Rogue, "Mind if I take over?"

"Be mah guest shugah." She said, moving over. I took the controls and opened up a trap door right under Wally, who fell right through, and didn't get out before it closed up. I chuckled, "One down, five to go."

Rahne walked in with Jubilee and Lovette, "What's this Jubilee is telling me about you having a crush?"

"Good Lord." I groaned, looking up a the ceiling, "Why?"

"Really?" Rogue asked, "That must be why you forgave him so quickly." She smiled that sly little smile of hers, "And why he wouldn't stop smilin at ya."

"Guys." I growled, making a claw chase after Artemis.

"He's cute." Jubilee offered, "No shame in it."

"Seems like a nice boy." Rogue said thoughtfully.

"You're in love, aren't you!" Rahne accused, smiling like a little school girl.

"I am not!" I protested.

"Oh wow, you are!" Jubilee said, astonished.

"No!" I shouted, slamming down on a button that made strobe lights come on in the danger room, harder to concentrate.

I heard Megan cry out as she was hit with a laser, she was grabbed by a claw, and shoved into a trap door. She's be okay in about twenty minutes. "I am not in love! I don't even like him!"

Lovette smiled mischievously, and suddenly, music drifted into the room. "Oh no, Lovette, turn off the music-"

"Look, it's not a big deal you're in love." Rahne said slowly, "It's fine."

I shook my head, and the music got louder. Oh heck with it. **"If there's a prize for rotten judgment. I guess I've already won that."**

Oh yeah, that was me all over. Stupid music, making me wanna sing like this was some eighties movie. I took off the necklace Conner had given me.

"**No man is worth the aggravation." **I tossed it behind me, the stupid song was right. No more men, no more stupid love. Rahne caught the necklace. **"That's ancient history been there. Done that."**

I shook my head, turning away from the controls and towards Lovette. "Stop the music."

Jubilee started singing, stupid hyper vampire. "Who'd ya think you're kiddin? He's the earth and Heaven to ya."

Rogue chuckled, jumping in, they were enjoying this. "Try to keep it hidden, Shugah, we can see right through ya."

Jubilee nodded, "Girl ya can't conceal it, we know how ya feel and who you're thinkin of."

"How do you all know this song?" I asked. Rahne tried to give me the necklace, but I pushed her hand away, standing up and backing away from them. Oh whatever. Might as well just go along with it.

"No chance, no way! I won't say it, no. No!" I protested.

Rahne giggled, "You swoon, you sigh, why deny it? Uh oh."

"It's to cliché, I won't say I'm in love." I turned back to the screen, watching Conner dodge lasers and metal arms. He still hadn't gotten hit, but Megan and Wally were already down, and the clock was ticking.

I sighed, "I thought my heart had learned it's lesson. It feels so good when you start out." I rubbed my forehead, "My head is screaming, get a grip, girl!"

I whirled around, glaring at them, "Unless you're dying to cry your heart out. Oh!"

They smirked, and started to sing along to the song together. How did they all know this song? "You keep on denying who you are and how you're feeling. Baby we're not buying! Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling!"

I shook my head turning away, trying to ignore them. "Face it like a grown up! When ya gonna own up that ya got, got, got it bad!"

"Uh uh! No chance, no way! I won't say it no, no!" I looked down at Conner, and saw him do a flip to get away form on claw, a move I had taught him, and I fount myself smiling at his skill.

"Give up, or give in!" Rahne demanded.

Jubilee grabbed my face, "Check the grin, you're in love!"

I smacked her hand away, "This scene, won't play! I won't say I'm in love!"

"You're doin flips, read our lips you're in love!" Artemis got hit by a laser, falling down, unconscious.

"You're way off base, I won't say it!" Robin got hit by a claw, and was hurled against the ceiling, before falling down, unconscious.

"She won't say it, no!" Kaldur got sucked into a trap door, down for the count.

"Get off my case, I won't say it!" The session ended, Conner was the only one left.

Rogue grabbed my hands, while Rahne put the necklace on me. "Girl don't be proud." Jubilee sang, "It's okay, you're in love."

I fingered the necklace after Rogue let my hands go, _At least out loud, I won't say I'm in… love._

Conner came back up into the control room, panic on his face, "Why didn't you stop the session! They all got-"

"Stunned." I said. "I never really set the lasers on kill. They'll be good in a few minutes, see, Robin's already waking up."

He nodded slowly, and then looked at my neck, smiling. "Necklace looks good on you."

"Uh, thanks. It's was a nice gift." I said, smiling. He nodded, going back down to hel out Robin and the others.

Jubilee smirked, "You are so in love."


	16. Advice, Training, and Threatening

Scott summers walked into the danger room, and saw an African American boy with webbed hands and tattoos running down his arms. "Are you new here?" He asked, curious.

The boy turned around, "Um, no, I am not a student here. I am visiting with Mio Howlett."

Scott nodded, "You're from that Young Justice team?"

"Yes sir, I am Kaldur, their leader." He said the last part sadly, and Scott noticed it.

Recognising the boy's expression, he said, "Leadership is a hard thing."

Kaldur nodded, "You understand this?"

"I've been the leader of the X-men ever since I was about your age. I understand the stress. I also know that stress doesn't come just because you're the leader. You made a mistake, didn't you?" Scott asked.

Kaldur nodded, "We were doing a telepathic training session, I was the leader, but behaved like a soldier, I am not fit for leadership."

Scott shook his head, "I've been there kid, so many times. Even if you stop being leader, the missions will keep coming. If you were leader, that means they thought you were the best for the job. If you aren't there, it'll just make it more dangerous. People make mistakes, bad stuff happens, and you need to move past it. If you don't, you'll fail your team again, and this time, they won't be getting back up."

Kaldur nodded slowly, "You are very helpful."

Scott smiled, "I try. What are you doing in here anyway?"

"Memorizing some of the previous strategy plans that succeeded flawlessly. I was hoping to use them in the field." Kaldur said, smiling.

Scott nodded, "Good idea."

WITH EMMA FROST:

I shivered, knocking on Professor Frosts' office door, "Come in."

I opened the door, and Emma frowned, "Yes Mio?"

"Are you to busy to talk?" I asked.

"Not at all." Emma said, "Take a seat."

I sat down, clearing my throat, "Emma, you know I've been acting Den Mother to Young Justice, right?'

"Yes." Emma said, "I was quite surprised to hear it, I never thought you'd do something like that."

"Never took me for the teaching sort, huh?" I asked, smirking.

"Actually, I just assumed you'd end up teaching here eventually." She said.

"Yeah?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I figured you'd eventually take over for Logan." She said.

I groaned, "Why does everyone think that!"

"You're a lot like him." She said. "Laura is like him to an extent, however, you are far more like him than her."

"That's only because she doesn't understand emotion yet." I persuaded. "As soon as she learns a little more she will be. Seeing as she's more skilled then I am, she'll take over for him."

Emma shook her head, "The damage done to Laura can never be truly undone. She'll always, deep down, be of some relevance to a time bomb."

"You just hate her because she's related to Logan." I glared.

"True." Emma said. "However, right now, I am ignoring that emotion, and focusing on what I've observed of Laura. She's a brilliant fighter, however, she is prone to rage, and her trigger scent, well to be honest, it's a liability."

"She can't help that-"

"Regardless of her decisions, it's still there." She said, "I'm not accusing her, merely explaining this to you. She'll never truly be able to let go, and because of that, I believe you'll reach a greater level than her one day."

I shook my head, "I'm not Logan, Frosty. I'm just… me."

She nodded, "And that's exactly why you are Logan."

I glared at her, "We got off topic."

"Well then by all means, return to it." She said.

"There's this one kid, Megan, she's a Martian so she's telepathic and telekinetic and etc. I was wondering if you'd give her a telepathic session or two while she's here." I offered.

She frowned, "Why would you need me? Professor Xavier would be the better pick."

"I thought it would be better for her to have a female role model around." I shrugged. "One who isn't me."

"How strong is she?" Emma asked.

"In terms of raw power, stronger than Martian Manhunter." I said, "But she's untrained, and needs a teacher. Manhunter is pretty busy with the league, so how about it? One or two sessions?"

She looked taken back, "Stronger than Manhunter?"

"Didn't you go up against him once?" I asked.

"Yes." She said. "I mistook him for an enemy, and attacked him. I was taken back by how much power he had. Eventually, we both realized we were on the same side, and the fight ceased."

"Who would have won?" I asked.

"Him, hands down." She said, shaking her head, "He's had centuries to perfect his abilities, I stood no chance.

"So you'll train her?" I asked.

"I think I will." She said, smiling. "It will certainly be interesting."

"Thank you for this favor Emma. I know you don't like me, so this… well, it means a lot." I said awkwardly.

"Once you've proven to have Logan's excuse of a brain." She said, rolling her eyes, "What I am about to tell you never leaves this room. If you tell anyone, especially Logan, I will personally see to it your body is found in a ditch at the side of the road, mauled nearly beyond recognition."

"Understood." I said confidently.

"You know I utterly despise Logan." She said.

"You made sure everybody knows that." I said.

"True, now, as much as I don't care for him, without him, everything would become… increasingly difficult for us all." She said slowly. "He's an asset on missions, and he alone keeps our machines running. The scenarios he comes up with in the danger room are completely genius."

She took a deep breath, "Without him, I guarantee most of our students wouldn't have survived this long."

I nodded, "No one can ever replace him."

"I stay firm to my theory that you can, and he knows it to." She said. "He was bragging about you at dinner a few nights ago."

"R-really?' I asked, embraced.

"Yes, telling everybody about how you've been mentoring an entire team, and how Batman himself hand picked you out of several more experienced teachers." She said, smiling with amusement.

"Well uh… cool." I said.

"Don't worry, the only ones who were listening were Scott and I." She said, "Scott was listening out of boredom, and I out of vague interest. He said you were the only good thing that he's done. Getting back to my topic, you, I understand are the spitting image of a younger, kinder, Logan. I have no doubt you will eventually take over for him. Good luck with yellow and blue spandex."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Uh, well, cool. Thanks again for teaching Megan, bye."

I got up to leave, "And, she's a bit… fragile. Just so you know. She's only been doing this for… well, not even a year."

Emma nodded, "I will go easy on her, but I will not make it easy for her."

"All I can ask for." I said, leaving.

I walked three steps, and saw Conner wandering down the hall, "Hey Conner." I said, "What's up?"

"I'm lost." He said, clearly exhausted from getting lost.

"Oh, what room are you trying to find?" I asked.

"512, it's supposed to be my dorm room." He said.

I raised an eyebrow, "That's right next to mine, you cool with that?"

"Sure." He said, shrugging.

I walked him there, "Let's just hope to God that you get a good room mate, huh?" opening the door, to see Hellion sitting on one of the beds. I clenched my teeth, staring up at the ceiling. "Are you that busy today?"

Hellion stood up, walking over, "Who's the chump?"

Conner glared at him, stepping in front of me to glare a few inches down at Hellion.

"Hellion, this is Conner Kent, he'll be your roommate for a few days." I explained.

"What's your power?" Hellion asked him.

"Super strength and enhanced hearing." Conner said.

"Boring." Hellion said, sitting back down on his bed, "Here's the rules, since you're only here for a few days, no posters on the wall unless they're bikini models. No girls in here, period. None of your little newbie friends in here either. No loud music. And do not touch my stuff."

Conner nodded, turning around to look at me, "Thanks for the tour."

"No problem. I'm right next door, so whatever you need, just give me a shout and I'll come running." I said.

"Anything he needs?" Hellion smirked, "What if he needs a little snuggle bunny? Something to cuddle with?"

I glared at him, "Sorekara kare wa anata no haha o motomeru koto ga dekimasu." _Then he can ask your Mother._

Conner smirked at the two of us as we glared at each other, and Hellion spoke up, "You and your boyfriend are annoying."

My eyes widened, "He's not my boyfriend."

"My bad." He said, "Girlfriend."

"Screw you!" I said.

"I'm pretty sure he'd like that more than me." Hellion said, smirking.

I growled, walking out and slamming the door behind me, cursing at him in Japanese. Those words were ones I would **never **teach Lovette. **Ever**.

**CONNER'S POINT OF VEIW:**

I blushed at what Hellion had said, wow, that's manly. Way to go Conner, keep blushing like a little school girl. Mio and Hellion seemed to know each other pretty well. Enough to know exactly what ticked each other off.

"So, what's your alias?" Hellion asked.

I was about to say Superboy, but then he would know I wasn't really a mutant. I personally didn't care, but Mio had said to keep lying. "Don't have one."

"Lame." he said, reaching over and grabbing his I pod, plugging in his headphones.

"Yeah." I said quietly so he wouldn't hear. "You're annoying, and I could rip you in half without thinking about it."

I climbed onto the other bed, laying down. Nice place. Mio was pretty lucky to get to live here.


	17. I Can't Be You Logan!

Artemis and Megan were rooming with me. I never thought anyone would actually occupy the other bunk bed across from mine, but Megan was sleeping on the top of the other bed, while Artemis was on the top bunk of my bed.

"So you lived here for four years?" She asked.

"Five now." I said, "I turned sixteen a few weeks ago."

Megan looked over at me, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"My culture only celebrates certain birthdays." I said, shrugging, "Some years are considered bad, or even dangerous, and we do certain things to ward it off. Like a priest usually blesses girls at three or seven years old, and boys at five years old."

"Really?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah." I said, "I hear you guys throw a party every birthday, with cake and balloons."

I kicked off my converse, and crawled into bed, wiggling under the covers. Artemis and Megan talked for awhile, until Hellion punched the wall between our rooms, shouting, "SHUT UP, I'M TRYIN TO SLEEP!"

After that the room had gotten quiet, and I was just on the edge of a dream, when the door slowly creaked open. I strained my ears, hearing those footsteps walk across my floor, and to the edge of my bed, "Mio?" Something whispered. Conner. Fan-tastic!

"What." I groaned, opening one eye to stare at him.

"Uh… Hellion fell asleep with his headphones on, and I can't sleep over all that noise." He said. Right, super hearing. I could hear the music from here. I didn't know Hellion listened to Lady Gaga. Make a note of that for future black mail.

I looked over at the vacant bed, no sheets, blankets, or pillows.

I sighed, moving over to the side of the bed. "Fine. But stay on your side."

He moved next to me, sighing contentedly, burying his face into the pillow. Little by little, his breathing slowed, and I knew he was sleeping. I sighed again, and I felt him move, shift a little, then settle down again. Must be a light sleeper. I turned over, facing the wall head on, and let sleep over take me.

**IN THE MORNING:**

I heard stifled laughter, and a small click, followed by giggles. "What…" I mumbled, opening my eyes a little. I was warm, very warm. And comfortable, more comfortable than I had been in a long time. Took me a minute to realize that was because Conner had both arms wrapped around my waist, his face nuzzled into my neck.

I gasped, and looked over his shoulder to see Artemis and Megan laughing, and Artemis holding a camera.

"WHAT THE-"

"Careful, don't want everyone in the mansion running in here to see now, do we?" Artemis asked, smirking.

"If you two don't get me out of this, I will lock you in the danger room for two hours." I threatened.

Megan shrugged, "Super strength. Sorry."

"That's ridiculous!" I protested, "I can easily get out of this." I tried to pull away, but his arms tightened, yanking me closer, and he mumbled into my neck.

Artemis laughed, "Wow, this is to good to be true."

"Shut up!" I hissed, struggling. This was not normal! What guy does this? Oh yeah, half the teenage population.

Conner frowned in his sleep, holding me tighter, but I thrashed around, trying to kick him or get loose. He grunted in his sleep, and his arms tightened so hard, one of my ribs cracked.

I gasped, and Artemis flinched, "Ouch."

Megan shook her head, "Super strength."

"Look, either go get kryptonite, or get a really big hammer!" I ordered.

The door slammed open, "IT'S FIVE IN THE MORNING WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?" Hellion screamed.

"Crap." I said, as his eyes rested on me. Two seconds… three seconds… four seconds… five-

Hellion burst into laughter, holding his sides and trembling. "The chump got some action!"

"He did not!" I protested. Conner suddenly shot up, holding me so tight, several other ribs snapped. He looked around wildly, then noticed me. Yeah, holding me so tight he broke my ribs, he might want to take note of that.

His eyes widened, and he dropped me, scampering off the bed, and looking at me as I held my ribcage. "Uh… sorry."

He was blushing like mad, but I probably was too. I raised an eyebrow, "Do you need to sleep with a teddy bear, or a stuffed bunny? Anything to keep this from happening again."

"Nope!" Hellion spoke up, "You're his snuggle bunny now!"

"Shut up before I slice open your jugular!" I bellowed.

Conner grabbed his ears, and ran out of the room. "To loud?" I asked.

Artemis chuckled, "Probably just to awkward."

I grunted as my last rib snapped back into place, and stood up. "Okay, Megan, Artemis, prepare to experience a new world of pain and suffering. Danger room. Now."

They groaned, following me down the hall. I was going to have a lot of fun with this.

**FOUR HOURS LATER:**

"So, did they try to kill you afterwards?" Logan asked, halfway under the X-van. "Wrench."

I handed him the tool, "No. They were to tired."

"You didn't put 'em in Def con 12 did ya?"

"No." I said, shrugging. "Just made some robot dogs chase them around for awhile, till I got bored."

He laughed, "You're cruel."

"Learned from the best." I said, smirking.

He snorted, "True that."

I shook my head, looking around the garage. I've worked on every car in here. I know how fast each one can go, which is a challenge cause we're always trying to make them go faster. I know the exterior lay out, as well as the interior lay out on each and every one. I've fixed everything from flat tires, to spark plugs, fuel pumps, drained batteries, and a bunch of weird, quirky gadgets fixed onto them. Oil slick, machine guns, heat seeking missiles, you name it. Even sharp metal spikes that the X-van would dump in the road so any vehicle following it would get instant flat tires. Logan taught me how to do all of that. He's a natural born grease monkey, and after four months at the manor, he turned me into one.

Logan spoke up, "Kid, I've been thinking."

"What?" I asked. "New idea for the X-jet?"

"No." He said, sliding out form under the X-van and looking at me seriously. "You've grown up a lot."

"Five years." I said shrugging. "Growth happens."

"Yeah." He said, getting up and grabbed two beers from the small fridge. He walked back over, handing me one. I popped my claw, snapping the top off, and taking a gulp. This stuff was addictive. It was a good thing I couldn't get drunk, healing factor eliminating poisons and all that stuff.

"I've been thinking." He said. I raised an eyebrow, and he paused, as if not knowing what to say next. Finally he just sighed, "You look so much like Itsu."

I was silent, I knew who my grandmother was, but to look like her, I had to look a lot like **him**. I liked to pretend I looked like my mother, but I know that wasn't really true. I had her nose, and her cheek bones, but that was it. My mother had a lot of recessive genes, and I hadn't really inherited much from her.

"Takes me back a little every time I look at you." He said, shaking his head.

I nodded slowly, "You wanted to tell me I look like Grandma?" I had never called Logan Grandpa, but Itsu… I just felt a little awkward saying her name. So, I called her Grandma.

He sighed slowly, "Not really."

"Then what?" I asked.

I just, I've been realizing how you're growing up, and I've been thinking. I'm getting old, and-"

"No you're not." I said quickly, fearing where this was headed. I could blow off Frost, and even Batman, but not Logan. _God, please tell me he's not going there._

"Well, in this world, nothing is guaranteed darlin. Something could happen to me any minute, and if that happens, I want to be sure that, that someone takes after me." He explained, eye to eye with me, not letting me look away.

"Logan…"_ Why me?_ "Uh…"

"You were the obvious choice." He said, sealing the deal, aka, my doom.

"The obvious choice not to pick!" I objected, standing up quickly.

"Kid-"

"No!" I protested, backing away, "I can't be you Logan! I can't do that, and you know it!"

"I'm not ask-"

"I can't do it! I'm not you!" I shouted, running out of the garage as fast as I could. I wasn't Logan, and I would never be able to take his place. That, I was sure of. I ran across the rocky terrain, and tripped on a particularly rugged area. I caught myself before I fell.

I tried to catch my breath, and realized I was sprawled right over a puddle of last night's rain. The water was still, allowing me to see myself clearly. I nearly screamed when my face shifted to my fathers.

I jumped back up, running through the front door, down the halls, up the stairs, and charged into my bedroom, only to run right into someone. Strong arm's steadied me, and a gentle but strong voice spoke.

"Mio, are you okay?" Conner asked.

I looked up at him, his face portraying concern, and confusion. Without even think about it, I threw my arms around him, burying my face in his chest.

"I can't be Logan. I can _never _be Logan, Conner." I whispered.

His armed hesitantly wrapped around me, "I know how you feel." He said, rubbing my back slowly. "I know exactly how you feel."

I just hugged him tighter. "I'll never be Logan."


	18. I Know You Care!

By the time I realized I was actually hugging Conner, no, hugging my student, my student that needed to look at me as a teacher, not a friend, he had already become quite comfortable with the hug, having gently pulled my face into the crook of his neck.

I pulled away from him, "Uh, sorry Conner."

He shook his head, grabbing my wrist to make sure I didn't leave. "Don't say sorry."

I swallowed, getting nervous, and trying to pull away, "Conner-"

He didn't let me finish, grabbing my other wrist, and pulling me closer. I struggled, but he only smiled, "Silly little girl, you can't get away from me."

"Conner!" I protested as he pulled me even closer, making me stand right next to him, just a hair's breath away.

His smile got bigger, teasing. "What's wrong? Don't like to be this close?"

"Personal space Conner." I ordered, trying to tug away again, but he was the freaking boy of steel! When I get out of this, I _will _kick Superman's spandex clad butt, all the way _back _to Krypton!

"No." He said smugly, pulling me closer, so I was pretty much _on _him. Or torsos were touching, and he looked a little to happy.

"Conner, let me go!" I ordered. "Or I swear, there will be **Hell **to pay!"

"I'll risk it." He said quietly, and the he leaned down, pursing his lips slightly.

Oh no. No, no, no! I am no going through this again. If Jake is any indication, relationships always end badly. I tried to pull away, but when he got closer, I knew I could only do one thing. I pulled my head back, and head butted him as hard as I could.

There was a loud crack as my skull made contact with his nose, blood pouring from it. He let me go, reeling back, and grabbing onto his nose desperately.

"Why did you do that?" He asked, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Conner, I'm your _teacher_." I stressed.

"There's more than that!" He said desperately, taking away his blood covered hands to reveal a broken nose. Logan would be so proud. "And you know it. I know you like me Mio, Jubilee wouldn't shut up about it!"

I ground my teeth, glaring at him, "I'll kill firecracker later."

"She was telling the truth, wasn't she?" He asked, looking at me with pleading eyes. "I know you like me Mio, you might even love me, because that's the word she kept using. I didn't believe her at first, but it's true, isn't it?"

I shook my head, "Conner, I _know _you like Megan."

He paused, biting his lower lip, "Yeah, I like Megan, I won't deny that I feel something for her, but Mio, I… I think I _love _you."

I ground my teeth. Why me? Why today?

"You love me, but you like her, fantastic." I said, walking to the door.

"Wait, Mio-"

"Just stop!" I ordered. "_Why _do you like me? _Why _does Artemis look up to me? _Why _does the whole team suddenly need me? _Why _does Lovette, no matter what I put her through, still treat me like I'm freaking _golden_!"

"Because you're amazing!" He blurted out. "I have never met _anyone _like you. You're beautiful, strong, you're not afraid to say what you think, to anyone, not even Superman." He whispered that last word, and I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"So?" I asked. "Conner, that doesn't mean anything! It doesn't mean anything real! I'm a _horrible _person. I've killed hundreds of people, granted, most of them deserved it, but more often than not, they didn't. They just happened to be close to me when I got angry at something that didn't even involve them!"

He shook his head, "I don't care."

"That doesn't make since!" I screamed. "Conner, I've killed people in cold blood, and not just adults! I've killed children!"

He bit his lip again, "I don't care! I want you Mio, and I'll fight for you if I have to."

Ugh! Why couldn't he take a hint? Why couldn't he just run! Run in fear, just like everyone else. What did I have to do to be rid of him?

I punched the wall, my fist going right through the dry wall. "Stupid boy." I mumbled, grabbing the door knob. "You don't know what you want. Go kiss Megan."

I opened it, walking out, and slamming the door behind me. I walked briskly down the hallway, and when I saw Jubilee walking towards me, smiling I just had to do it. "Hey Mio!" She called, walking closer, smiling.

As soon as she got close enough, I drove my fist into her face, as hard as I could. Superman would be proud of that punch.

She looked up at me from the ground, "What… why?"

"Just when I think you've grown up, stopped being the loud mouth gossip queen of the school, you just go and prove me wrong, don't you!" I yelled. "once again, you've proved that you don't care about me, just all my life's drama, and telling everyone about it, and I'm a chump for thinking otherwise!"

I ran away, out of that hallway. That's all I've ever been, the runner. I've always run from me problems, and I guess I'm not stopping today.

**CONNER'S POINT OF VEIW:**

I sighed, sitting down on the bed, and putting my head in my hands, rubbing my forehead. She did like me, didn't she? Maybe she didn't.

The door opened again, and Hellion stood there, smirking. "Howlett girl turn you down?"

"Shut up." I mumbled.

"I've been there man." He said.

I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, "Who?"

"Laura, Logan's clone." He said, shrugging.

I shook my head. "Just leave me alone."

He shook his head, "You don't need to brood, you need a night with the guys."

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Me and my buddies were gonna go out, come with us." He said.

"I don't-"

"Trust me, it'll help." He said.

"Fine." I said.

"Come on." He said, motioning for me to follow, and I did.

**LATER, AT A BAR IN TOWN:**

The bar was just loud. Loud music, loud drunk men, and loud suggestive sounds coming from the closet on the other side of the bar. Despite that, Conner was able to focus on all the friends of Hellion gathered around the table, talking about nothing but girls. How was this supposed to help?

"I knew a girl once, she was ugly, **so **ugly!" One of the louder ones proclaimed. "Made a man want to gouge his eyes out. But that body of hers, you'd do anything to get close! Perfection, that's what it was!"

Hellion laughed, "She was a butta face?"

"What?" I asked.

Hellion turned to me, "Everything, but a face."

"Oh." I mumbled, looking at the Budweiser in front of me Hellion had ordered. I knew it was alcoholic, and I was underage, so I would not be drinking that. I new he must have been too, but he didn't seem to have a problem with drinking his.

His friends ranted on, talking about women, motorcycles, and beer. I didn't like it, the whole place was nauseating. I wanted to be anywhere but here! I said a mumbled good bye, and walked out of the bar, walking over to my motorcycle, and seeing someone standing right next to it.

He was tall, very tall. He had long black hair, with grey mixed in, he was a very old man. I walked over to my bike, and he stopped me, holding out his hand, "Hello."

I paused, "Uh, hi." I took his hand slowly, and as soon as I did, hearing pain ripped through my hand, as blades from his hand tore through my hand.

I yanked it back, stumbling away from him, and Hellion ran out of the bar, "Conner!"

I stood up, glaring at him and cradling my wounded hand to my chest as Hellion ran up next to me.

"Who are you?' I snapped, watching the blades sink back into his arm. Mio said only members of her family could do that.

He just smirked, "They'll tell ya when you get back to the mansion, and that girl you've been hanging around."

My eyes widened in recognition. "Mio." I whispered.

He nodded, "Tell her it's her turn." With that, he vanished, not a trace left.

Hellion ripped off his shirt, putting pressure on my hand's multiple wounds. "We gotta get you back to the mansion!"

As soon as we got there, he took me to the medical wing, and Emma Frost came in, immediately taking my hand and frowning. She turned to Hellion, "Leave."

He left the room, and she turned to me, "You are kryptonian?"

"Yes." I answered.

She frowned, "We do not have a kryptonite needle, but if I know Batman, his sidekick has some kryptonite on him."

She immediately called for Robin, and he came in with a small metal box, probably containing kryptonite. Before she could do anything, Mio entered the room, looking hesitant.

She walked over to the bed, biting her lip, "Hey Conner."

I smiled at her, she must like me. She came. "Hi."

Emma raised her eyebrow at Mio, then turned to Robin, "You are sure it will not kill him."

"Don't let it touch him, and he'll be fine." Robin said.

I knew what they were doing, exposing me to kryptonite so that the needle could pierce my skin. I bit my lip, and Mio put her small hand on my shoulder, not saying anything, just standing there as Emma opened the box, and the kryptonite was exposed.

I immediately felt the effects, it got hard to breath, and I found I didn't have the energy to sit up, so I fell.

Mio steadied me, and I was surprised her small frame could actually lift me. Emma took out a needle, and dug it into my hand, slowly stitching up all my wounds. I had never felt pain like this, and it showed, because I couldn't stop whimpering.

Mio's grip tightened, and I saw her wince. Why was she in pain? This was my agony. If my pain hurt her too… I tried to be braver, tried to hold it all in, but it wasn't working. The little sounds of agony slowly escaped my lips. It wasn't until a little of the pain stopped, that I realized Emma was only done with one wound. She threaded the needle again, and I let out another whimper, and Mio held me a little gentler. Was it pity, or empathy?

Little by little, Emma finished her job, and wrapped my hand up carefully. Robin immediately locked the kryptonite back up, and I was suddenly able to breath much easier, and the pain diminished to just some stinging from my hand.

As soon as Robin and Emma left, Logan entered. "Who cut ya?" He asked.

I looked over at Mio, her eyes bore into mine. I turned to Logan. "I didn't get a name."

Logan grabbed my hand roughly, and I hissed in pain, as he sniffed it, trying to get over the smell of blood, and focus on what's underneath. He immediately pulled away, cursing.

Mio glared at Logan, "Is it Daken?"

"No." Logan said, "Worse. Much worse."

Her glare of preparation faded, into a look of nervousness.

Logan spoke one word, "Romulus."

That name made Mio flinch, and Logan grabbed her arm, yanking her into his chest, and wrapping his arms around her. He was protecting her, keeping her close.

I frowned, staring at my shoes. Why couldn't I do that?


	19. Coffee With Dad

I was silent as Logan held me. I had always known Romulus would eventually find out about me, and then would set his sights on me for one reason or another. I always knew it would happen, but I never really let it sink in I guess.

I knew who Romulus was. Well, everything Logan told me about him sure as heck clued me in.

Conner spoke up, "He said it was your turn."

I bit my lip, "Yeah."

"Who is he?"

I sighed, pulling away from Logan, and turning to Conner. "My great grandfather. His name is Romulus, and he's one of the most twisted, evil men you'll ever meet."

My gaze drifted to Conner's hand, "That's an example. He doesn't care about life, flesh, or pain."

"He's someone you'll never meet again." Logan said with finality. "You're all going back to Mount Justice tomorrow. Pack your stuff."

"Logan." I protested, "I'm not afraid-"

"And that's why you're going!" Logan snapped. "Because you're not afraid. You'll be stupid, and reckless, just like you are with Daken!"

I blinked, taking half a step back, and he continued. "I can barley come out of a fight with Romulus, and if you don't think you're ready, I'm not putting you in one with him."

So that's what this was about. Not ready to take over for Logan. Didn't expect him to criticize me for it, but I should have.

Logan grew up in a time where children where treated as property, and women the same. If you could survive to twenty five: congratulations, you can actually live now! If not, it's not like you could have done much anyways, right?

He didn't have a say if he was ready for something or not, if someone needed him to do it, he would do it. I knew he must have been disappointed in me, he had raised me for five years, probably hoped I would have turned out better. Better than this.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! This is not my fault! I'm not ready, and Logan should know that. I'm not being selfish, if I try to take over for Logan, I'll fail, and people could get hurt, I'm being considerate here.

I shook my head, "Whatever. Just whatever."

I walked out of the medical wing, I have had enough of Utopia X, and everyone here! For the past five years I have bent over backwards for Logan. I have given up killing, rages, blood thirst, everything that used to keep me going. I have been through hell and worse for him, I think I have every right to draw the line here of all places.

I run to the garage, I don't even know why until I see Scott's motorcycle. Now I know what I'm going to do. I kind of missed the rebellious me, the me who used to throw caution to the wind, and just do what I wanted. That was before I had things like Logan, Lovette, all my adopted sisters, and now the team holding me down.

I get on the bike, and smirk to myself. Not tonight. Tonight, I was going to be me again. I felt the animal in the back of my mind, stirring for the first time since my danger room session yesterday. I had practically mastered the beast in me. I only felt it when I thought about it, and it only made itself known when I was fighting. That was the only slight control it had over me anymore. But it knew that I was doing something bad, something dangerous, especially with Romulus in town.

But I didn't care, all I wanted to do was fight right now, and I wasn't going to risk running into Logan, Jubilee, Conner, or anyone else on the way to the danger room. I took off across the lawn on Scott's motorcycle. I would have taken Logan's, but I don't have a death wish. Even if I did, I'd have to get over it pretty quickly.

**IN TOWN:**

I had nearly gone into a bar, everyone would be all riled up by now, easy to provoke a fight. The smell of that ridiculously loud bar made me second guess myself. Made me second guess this whole thing. I remembered why I didn't do things like this anymore. Lovette was at home, and she needed a big sister to come home to her.

There's a lot of reasons why Lovette should look for someone better to look up to. For some reason, she wants me though, and the kids deserves to have her way. With everything I've put her through, I might was well throw her a bone.

So, I ducked inside the nearest Starbucks, and sat down with some frozen coffee the guy at the counter had recommended. Whipped cream, chocolate fudge, and caramel. This wasn't coffee, this was ice cream.

I didn't really like Starbucks, it smelled like coffee, which I didn't really like, and it played some stupid song in the back ground that kept talking about 'last Friday night' or whatever. What did TGIF even mean?

I didn't really pay attention to the door when it opened, but I sure paid attention when the guy at the counter, Mark I think, asked, "Hello, what would you like to order?"

"Same thing my cub's having." Came the answer form the voice I knew so well.

Mark looked a little taken back, but soon realized he was talking about me, and gave him one.

_Don't come over here. Don't come over here. Don't come over here. Come on God, throw me a bone down here, I've had a rough day! Probably the roughest I've had in a long time!_ All my pleading didn't stop Daken from walking right over, and sitting down across from me. "Didn't expect you to leave Utopia X so quickly. How'd you get off that meteor? Steal the Black Bird?"

"I swam." I answered, glaring at him. "Drove Summer's motorcycle into the ocean, and swam all the way here. Proof? My hairs still wet."

"Clothes aren't." He pointed out.

"The modern marvels of public bathrooms and those no touch hand dryers. They dry clothes pretty fast." I explained. "Jubilee taught me that one."

He nodded, smirking, "Logan know you're gone?"

"By now? Probably." I said, shrugging. "Don't really care."

He snorted, "Please, of course you care, You've always cared what that old man thought of you. You're his _perfect little girl_, his good child. The one that always listens to him no matter what, follows him around like a good little puppy. Makes me sick."

"I'm here." I said, glaring at him. "That's proof I don't always do what Logan says. I won't deny that I care what he thinks about me. He's the closest thing to a father I have, and my own stupidity has probably left me forever screwed in his point of view."

"Oh." He said in a mocking tone. "Poor baby. She's got her first real problem-"

"Shut. Up." I said in a deadly tone. "I came into town to get a fight out of the first drunk guy who happened to walk in front of me. I know you have no respect for me, I get that. I understand that, almost, and I don't really care anymore. I might have come to some resemblance of an understanding about you, but do not, ever, tell me I have not gone through tough times."

"You haven't-"

"I saw my own mother die." I stressed. "Right in front of me. They stormed into my house, interrupted a ten year old girl and her mother having breakfast, and dragged both of us out into the yard, and made me watch as they killed her."

He was silent for a moment, and I shook my head, looking away from him. "You're so **lucky**. You didn't have to **watch**."

He reached out, and I expected him to stab through my neck or something, but instead he grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. "**You're **lucky." He said firmly, not letting me look away. "You **knew **her."

I held his gaze for a moment, and then sighed, looking away. "I'm sorry about your mother. From what I've been told, she was a good person. Didn't deserve it."

"I know." Daken said, reaching inside his jacket, and pulling out an old, worn leather book.

My eyes widened. "You-"

"Yeah." He said, setting the book down in front of me. "I went to your old house. I found this under her mattress."

I bit my lip, it was my mother's old diary. "Did you…"

"No." He said, knowing what I was going to ask. "I didn't read it."

"Then, why would you-"

"Because." Daken said firmly, yet deadly. "I felt like it."

I glared at him, "You never do anything without a reason. Everything is a game to you, and you're always playing three at a time."

"True." He said. "But not everything is a game."

"To you, it is." I said firmly. "You don't **care **about anything!"

Mark spoke up, "Uh guys, we closed five minutes ago, so-"

We both shot him a look, and he withered a little under our gaze. "Okay, never mind, we're now open twenty-four-seven."

We turn back to each other, and I glared at Daken, daring him to tell me I was wrong.

He just laughed, "You're right, I don't."

"Then why would you bring me this? Why would you even go there?" I asked.

"Something wrong with wanting to know who the mother of my child is?" he asked innocently.

I gave him a dry look. "You stay away form there."

"Why?" He asked, "It's just an house. I was surprised actually, it's relatively clean. Some of the villagers must be taking care of it."

I shook my head, "That house means more to me than Utopia X and everyone on it. You will stay away from it." I said firmly.

"No." He said, smirking. "Actually, I think I'm going to go back soon. It's a nice place, I may crash there for a few days, I kind of miss Japan."

"Stay away form it." I hissed.

"The grave was nice too." He added.

I paused, "Her grave?"

"Yeah, nice little headstone, nice clear letters, said stuff like caring friend, loving mother, and my personal favorite, fighter. Yeah right, that woman probably never through a punch in her life. I saw a picture of her, she was small, fragile."

I glared at him as he continued. "Why people thought she was a fighter is beyond me really."

"Because she was a fighter." I insisted, ready to rip his head off. "There's more to fighting than kicking and punching. She fought, but it wasn't with her body. She raised a kid all on her own, and a kid like me at that. She might not of been the strongest person in the world, but to me she was. She didn't get mad at me when I got into fights, no matter how ridiculous the reason. Granted, most of the time I had to fight, but more often than night, I could have just walked away. She dealt with me, better than most would have. She never got mad at me when I came home with bruises and cuts. She loved me, and so help me God!" I stood up, popping my claws and shoving them right through the table. "If you talk about her like she was some wall flower again, I will get the Maramusa blade, and cut your head off!"

I turned to Mark. "Sorry about the table." I said, and walked out. My life, as of right now, sucks. I can't be me anymore, the old me isn't working for me, and the new me keeps getting people to care about her. Not to mention the whole 'take after Logan' thing.

I shook my head, to be like Logan would be an honor, but I couldn't do it. Laura, she could do it, couldn't she?


	20. I'm Stuck In Hell

Back at Mount Justice. Back with Batman and whoever else runs through that door. Back with training the team. Back with living alone in a two room apartment. Back with pretty much everything, except Conner.

I don't know if it was because he hated me for rejecting him, or that he knew I felt something for him, and continued to keep it away from him, when he wanted it, but either way, he was acting completely different. He wouldn't walk up to me when I entered a room, or sit next to me. He was lean against the wall farthest form me, glaring at me, as if saying, _you're a heartless liar, and I know you love me._

I never said I didn't love him, but I do wish that I didn't love him. I don't know, maybe it is love, maybe it isn't. I thought I loved Jake, but I didn't really love him, I love what he did for me. He gave me something I had been craving for the longest time, but had never realized I wanted. My humanity.

When I had been around Jake, I literally forgot I wasn't human. I forgot about my mother, my father, everyone around me. I was living in the moment with Jake, and I loved that. I now finally realize, I did not love him.

Conner is completely different from Jake, I don't fell a rush when I'm around Conner, I don't feel different at all. I still know I'm an animal, a Lupine, but I feel better about it. I feel like it's okay to be me, instead of being a monster.

I steal a glance at Conner across the living room. He's staring at me, arms crossed across his chest, glaring at me, like he has been for a few days.

I change the channel, trying to see if he would react, but he doesn't. I look over my shoulder, hoping I wasn't alone with him, but I am. Megan left the kitchen behind us ten minutes ago. Robin is at school, and so is Wally. Kaldur is in Atlantis. Artemis is bickering, with some guy called Red Arrow that's been hanging around here lately with Robin and Wally, but they aren't here yet, and any attempts to talk to me failed.

"_So, you're Hellhound." He said, sitting down next to me, a little to close._

"_That's my name." I said, not looking at him. I could already tell he and Artemis didn't get along, and when it came to Artemis, I was protective. I'll admit it, these guys are __**my **__litter._

"_What's you're real name?" He asks, getting even closer. Step one._

_Artemis snorts, and walks away, I here her from the hallway mumbling, "You want Conner to punch off your manhood, keep it up."_

_I almost laugh, but I don't._

"_Mio." I answer, please God, make him leave me alone. I don't need Conner, I will __**cut **__it off, and that hurts worse, cause it bleeds._

"_Haven't heard that name before." He said, his elbow resting on the back of the couch, right next to my shoulder. Step two._

"_It's Japanese." I said, biting my tongue. Wait for it, Mio, just wait for it._

"_Really?' He asked, a grin spreading across his face and his arm going around my shoulders, then physically pulling me to lean on him, "I like Japanese."_

_There it is. I immediately popped my right middle finger claw, and jammed it through the middle of his hand, also piercing my should, but it was so worth it._

_He screamed, yanking his arm away, and running out of the room, into the medical wing. I'm pretty sure Artemis was waiting with gauze wrap and cotton balls. What can I say, the girl knows me._

I finally realize the channel was on MTV and I change it quickly, turning it to Infested. I like watching the bugs creep people out. Okay, it's gross there are so many, but no need to scream people. They will not kill you.

I look back at Conner, still hasn't moved. I turn the channel, MMA fight. He doesn't move. Disney channel, still no detectible movement from him. I bite my lower lip lightly, and turn it to King of the Hill, the episode where Luan became a pretty good female boxer, but still nothing.

I sighed, just flipping through random channels, until I see Simple Plan giving a live performance of God Must Hate Me.

**Last night, I just wanted to have fun. To go out with my friends.**

**I took my dad's car, I never thought he would find out.**

**But I crashed in a wall, man I'm dead! I guess it's no use, I'm screwing up every little thing I ever try to do. I'm born to lose. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!**

**God must hate me!**

**He cursed me for eternity!God must hate me!Maybe you should pray for me?**

Thank you Pierre. Are you seriously _trying _to tick me off? I might not be able to kill you now, but those hotels you stay at are not guarded from the windows. Just a forewarning.

**I'm breaking down and you can't save me!I'm stuck in Hell and, I wanna go home!**

Well, that makes two of us. I stole a glance over at Conner, and once again, he is the Sphinx. If this is Earth, what must hell be like? I sighed, just turning off the TV altogether, and looking at him with an annoyed expression, but before I can say anything, he interrupts me, "You deserve it."

That makes me back down, but only for a moment, before I'm up again. "Jesus Conner! Why!" I asked, turning sideways and facing him head on. "I've explained this to you before! It. Won't. Work."

"Why shouldn't it?" Conner asked, his glare not faltering. "I love you, and I know you love me, nothing else matters, right?"

I stared at him, shaking my head, "There is so much more Conner. One of the reasons it wouldn't work, is because you don't know about this stuff."

"Then tell me." Conner urged, eager to try and fix the problems.

I shook my head, "It's not something you can really say Conner, it's just something you eventually learn."

He paused, his glare fading into a kicked puppy look. "But… I love you."

My heart nearly broke in two right there. He wanted it, I wanted to let him have it, but I couldn't do this to myself again. I can not go through this again, and you know what? It isn't even about that. Okay, maybe it is a little, but it's also about Conner, and what's best for him. Which is Megan.

"I know." _I love you too._

My phone rang, and I answered it quickly, "Your wasting my time, what do you want?"

"Oh that's a really nice greeting for your father." Said (who else sees this coming?) Daken.

I frowned, and Conner immediately frowned also, glaring a the phone, super hearing.

"What do you want Daken?"

"Me? Not much really, not from you. But Lovette, she wants you to get over here as soon as possible, because when I get bored of poking her, I'll start stabbing."

I froze, my blood running cold at his words that I wished beyond all imagination were false. "What?"

"You wanna talk to her?" He asked, and not waiting for a reply, handed it off to someone.

"MIO!"

I jumped up off the couch, rushing to the main room, Conner on my heels. "Lovette, where are you?"

"I don't know, but it's dark, and I'm scared." She said, whimpering.

"It's okay." I said, stepping into the main room and bringing up a screen, pressing a few buttons, and holding the phone above the screen, so the screen could scan it. "Lovette, everything will be alright."

"He won't stop talking to me." She sobbed. "He says… bad things are going to happen, and you can't-"

"Lovette." I said firmly, silencing her. "Have I ever lied to you before?"

"No." She answered.

"Then please, listen to me, and believe my when I tell you, I will find you, and I will save you. He will never be able to stop me when I'm fighting for you." I said, punching in a command Robin had taught me, and the call was traced. "Now, where are you?"

"I think I'm underground." She whispered, as if that would help. Daken was standing right next to her, and he had super hearing. "It's cold, and the floor is rocky, and wet."

"Okay, good girl. I'll be there soon." I said, just as the computer lit up, showing that the call was coming from Japan, but no where near my old house. "I love you."

The phone moved again, and Daken spoke again. "Okay, I know you're not stupid, so, have you figured out where I'm calling from?"

"Japan." I said, smirking. "Predictable."

"Where in Japan?" He asked, testing me. There were seven continents in the world, it was easy to just blurt out one and get it right by luck, especially since he told me he had been planning to go to Japan soon.

"She's in Hiroshima." I answered.

"Yeah, you traced the call?"

"Minutes ago."

"Well, you won't be coming to Hiroshima." He said. "You'll meet me at your old house, in Matsuyama."

Matsuyama was literally just a short boat ride away from the outskirts of Hiroshima, she must not be in the heart of the city then. Away from most of the people, that's where she'd be. Then again, it was Daken, and he probably did something completely different, just to throw me off.

"Why?" I growled.

"Because I said so. Oh, and if you try to be stupid like usual, keep in mind that the building she's in, it's very small, but has a lot of guards around it, who are all instructed to blow it up the minute someone approaches who is not with me."

"While they're still in it?"

"I'll do far worse to them than a bomb every could if they don't, and they know that."

"True." I allowed, then frowned, biting my lower lip, before nodding. "Okay, any other rules I should know about?"

"You have to come alone of course." Daken said. "No Logan, or X-23, or anyone else, got it?"

Suddenly, Conner ripped the phone away from me, shouting into it, "You better start back pedaling on that real fast you miserable little punk!"

Daken sounded a little taken back for a moment, and with my hearing I easily picked up on the conversation. "Who the hell is this?"

"This is Superboy, and if you think I'm letting Mio go alone, you're crazy." He growled. I tried to grab the phone, but he easily waved me away.

"I see." Daken said, and I knew he found this extremely amusing. "And who are you exactly to tell her what to do?"

"Unlike you, I give a damn about her." Conner said, voice low and threatening. "You leave Lovette alone and you come here and face me like a man-"

I grabbed the phone form him, "Yeah Daken I get it, my house, alone, battle to the death, on my way as of now. Bye."

I hung up, and Conner glared at me, "Why didn't you let me-"

"Okay, first of all, I do _not _need you, or _anyone _else to stand up for me Conner Kent." I snapped, then relaxed, "Besides, who said I was going to listen?"

"What?' He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You my friend, are going to Hiroshima. I, am going to my old house." I said, a smirk playing on my face.

He nodded in realization, "How are we getting there?"

"Well, we're going to need Megan as well." I said, shrugging, "Go ask her to fly us to Japan, I've gotta get into uniform."

"What exactly do you plan on doing when you start to fight?" Conner asked. "Even I can see Daken is at a much higher level than you."

"I guess I'll just have to hold my head high." I walked away to the bathroom, growling, "Daken crossed the line, and I'm going to do far worse than put him back in his place."

There is one mistake even the most idiotic people know. You never try to kill the baby wolf if the Mama is still alive. She will do far worse than kill you, she'll eat you alive.


	21. And I Wanna Go Home!

This is regular.

_This is thoughts._

This is a day dream or reading from a book or note.

**CONNER'S POINT OF VEIW:**

"And that's why we need you to fly us to Japan." I summed up, shrugging.

Megan blinked, eyes wide. "Oh…"

"So, will you help us?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She smiled at me, "Or course Conner, you know I'll always help you out." She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around me, hugging me tightly. "Because I love you."

I hesitated, I know I liked Megan, but I loved Mio. _Forget Mio, she made her choice._ She did, she's told me multiple times she doesn't feel that way about me. I know she's lying but… still, the intent is clear, clear and painful.

I looked down at Megan, and saw she was floating up to meet me, lips pursed. Without even thinking, I pressed mine down to meet her. Her lips were incredibly soft, just like her hands, which were running through my hair. It was like being touched by a pillow, that soft.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer, and she seemed to enjoy that. I pushed my lips down harder, my arms tightening around her.

She yanked away suddenly, letting out a faint cry. I let her go, and watched as she held up her arms to inspect them, finding hand shaped bruises coating them. My hands, my strength, my fault. Mio would have healed already, probably wouldn't have even pulled away.

"Sorry." I mumbled, and someone cleared their throat from the doorway. I looked over my shoulder, to see Mio, clad in her costume, with an unreadable expression.

**MIO'S POINT OF VEIW:**

I walked into the kitchen to see if Conner had convinced Megan yet, and was promptly greeted with Megan and Conner kissing. I took a step back, shocked, and then leaned forward, unable to look away as Megan ran her hands through Conner's hair. My fists clenched.

How dare she kiss Conner! Conner was- _not yours. As I recall, you told him it wouldn't work, this is your fault for not saying yes to him. You hurt him, just like Jake hurt you._

I bit my lip, and felt something inside me die as Conner held her closer, tightening her grip. When Megan yanked away form Conner holding her to tightly, I couldn't help but feel a little happy. _You wanted Conner to choose Megan over you. You told him to choose her, stop complaining. You made your bed, sleep in it you pathetic coward._

I cleared my throat, and they both looked over at me, Megan in embarrassment, and Conner in fear. "Mio-"

"Are you taking us to Japan or not?" I asked Megan, ignoring Conner.

"Sure." She said, "Are you sure you don't wanna take Artemis and the others? They'll all wanna help with Lovette, we all love her."

I shook my head, "Megan, it's just us. I'm jumping out of the bio ship to get to my old house, and you're taking Superboy to Hiroshima. You have to stay on the bio ship, do not follow him, even if you think he's about to die, do you understand?"

She bit her lip, "Yeah."

"Megan." I said, staring her down. "I mean this with the highest sensitivity I could ever muster. Do. Not. Leave. The bio ship."

She looked at me for a moment, and then nodded, "Okay."

The flight to Matsuyama was long, and silent. I was just sitting down, elbows on my knees, and chin in my hands, staring at the floor. Logan must know by now she was gone, right? Why wouldn't he be calling me, telling me that? Unless Daken did something with him…

I shook my head, I did not need those thoughts right now. Get to my house, stall Daken, and pray Conner can save Lovette. I looked over at Conner, and he looked over back at me.

"Conner, just… just promise me that you'll get her out of there." I ordered.

He nodded, "No one's going to have a chance to blow it up, and even if they do, I'll get her out before it does."

I nodded, looking back down at the floor "Okay."

He stared at me, then came over, sitting down next to me, "What's wrong?"

"He'll never leave Lovette alone, not as long as she's with me." I mumbled.

"You just need to train more." Conner said. "You can get stronger-"

"No." I said, "The only way Daken would ever stop, reguardless of how strong I get, is if I die."

Conner and Megan were both silent for a moment.

Conner finally spoke up, "Well, I guess you don't really have a choice."

"No, actually, I do have a choice." I said.

Conner raised an eyebrow, and Megan gasped, "Mio-"

"No reading my mind." I snapped.

"Sorry." She whispered, and I thought I saw tears gathering in her eyes.

"What?" Conner asked.

I shrugged, "I think I'm ready to let him kill me."

**CONNER'S POINT OF VEIW:**

Sometimes, you just never expect someone to say something like that, and when they do, it hits you like a ton of bricks.

A guy in a ups uniform walked up to me with a clipboard, "Excuse me, I have a ton of bricks for a Mr. Conner Kent?" He held out his clip board and a pen for me to sign, and I did.

He stepped back, staring up at the ceiling of the bio ship as a ton of brick came crashing down on my head.

"Can I get that pen back?" The guy asked, and my hand rose shakily through the bricks, handing it back to him. "Thanks."

"No problem." I said, my voice shaking.

Mio raised an eyebrow at me, "Conner, it's been ten minutes, you're gonna have to shut your mouth at some point."

I closed my mouth, staring at her. She shook her head, "Connie, I'm fifteen years old and I've lived the life most people only have nightmares about. I think I'm ready to end it, but not before I make sure she'd safe." I hated that nickname, but I was to scared to be angry.

"Yeah…" I said, "But if you just save Lovette the normal way, Daken might leave you two alone for another… thirty to forty years."

She gave me an amused look, "I think you're being a little irrational."

"No I'm not."

"Everybody's gotta die sometime Conner." She said.

"No they don't." I denied.

"Conner, I'm fine with it."

"But what about our… our duty as heroes to-"

"Boo hoo!" She mocked, "Duty to stay alive, duty to fight a pointless battle, duty to be self righteous fools!" She stopped mocking him and turned serious. "Conner, I don't know if this is because of your personal feelings, or because you're afraid of death, but either option, you can't do either. For Jesus' sake, you're in hero work, and you need to accept that everything a hero spends their whole life training for and fight for, _everything_, is a stall."

Her words were a stab to the heart, maybe they were true, maybe they weren't, but Mio, whether her belief was right or not, when it came to a hero, she was the real deal. She wasn't golden, she didn't think of herself that way, but when someone really needed her to be, like Lovette, she would let them believe she was golden, even if all they really needed was silver, or brass. Then, she would be silver or brass, and let them continue to believe she was gold, if that was what they needed.

I was shocked by her words, but maybe they _were _true. "We're just trying to keep the game going, that's it." She paused, as if trying to decide if she should continue, "But ultimately, it always end up the same way. Everyone dies."

A skeleton in a hooded robe stood across from me, a game of connect four in-between us. "I win." Death proclaimed.

"Where?" I asked, "I don't see it!"

"Here." He said, pointing out a row of four black chips. "Diagonally, see?"

I laughed, smiling, "I see it, very sneaky Death!"

I snapped out of that day dream, and stared at her, "You gonna tell Logan?" Logan knew her better than anyone, he'd slap some sense into her.

"He doesn't need that burden, his son killing his granddaughter. Besides, he'd just give me a bunch of reason to change my mind." She said, shrugging.

I was silent for a moment, "But, there's so many things you need to do before you kick the bucket!" I protested.

She gave me a look, "I dare you to find one I haven't done."

I hesitated, "Eat a sausage and pepper burrito from the Mexican restaurant down the street."

"Done that." She said, "Best burrito I've ever had."

"Okay… go to Asia?" I offered, no way had she done this.

She paused, "Ne , daseosbeon, geogie gass-eo."

"I'll take that as a yes, and I'll also check off learn a foreign language." I mumbled.

"Mhm." She said, "You just gonna keep pulling these out for the whole trip?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I said.

"This is gonna be a long flight." She said, sighing.

**SEVERAL HOURS LATER, MIO'S POINT OF VEIW:**

"Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower." He offered.

"Done that." I said.

"Go to the top of the Meiffel Tower." He said.

"Now you're just making stuff up." I said, standing up and walking to the drop ramp. We were almost there, and I wanted to be ready.

"No, really, I'm not." He insisted, following me.

"Look Conner." I said, "There is not one thing I regret in my life that won't be fixed by my death. I'm ready. I really am."

He sighed, "You have had an amazing life."

"Good." I said, relieved. "Now that we agree, what about that list, how many of those things have you done?" I asked. "For that matter, when's the last time you just laid in the grass and done nothing? Hmm?"

I could tell by his expression, he never had. "You need to start taking some time for yourself Conner. Now, promise me you'll do that." I ordered.

"I will." He promised.

"Good, then there's only one thing left I need to do to make sure I don't regret anything." I said.

"What?" He asked, as I literally jumped up to actually be able to touch his lips with mine. I was ridiculously short, and he was more than a head taller than me. So the little peck I had left on his lips was very short lived, but it got my point across.

He froze staring at me, and then grabbing the corners of my mask, lifting it over my face, until it was pulled completely off. I frowned, looking up at him as he held my mask in his hands, "Are you okay?"

He looked at me sadly, like a young man would look to his father or mother when he was about to move out, or go off to college. "I'm scared."

I sighed, hugging him tightly for a moment, "It'll be okay Conner."

He hugged me back, tightly. "I don't want you to die."

"I'll be fine." I said, patting his back slowly, then pulling away "Hell won't faze me. I've known for a long time that's where I'm gonna end up."

"Wait, what?" He asked, "You're not going to Hell."

"Yeah, I am." I said, "They don't let people like me in Heaven."

He just shook his head, "You mean they don't let people who've saved a four year old from Hydra, risked her life on a daily bases for that child, and people she doesn't even know, worked herself to the bone in training not for her safety but again for people she doesn't care about, and mentored an entire team filled with messed up kids that she hardly knew, and being an example to them daily? Not to mention putting her own feelings to the side for someone who she loved, but thought they deserved better?"

I was silent for a moment, and he broke into a grin, "See?" He held out my mask, "Here."

I took it, and then Megan lowered the ramp. I felt a little guilty about doing that with her standing right there, but come on, odds are I'm never going to see him again. I nodded to Megan, "Talk good care of him, and tell Artemis to take care of Lovette for me."

She nodded, "I'll make sure to tell her that."

I looked towards the open ramp and then tossed the mask to Megan, "Make sure Logan get's that!"

That was Logan's mask, and what I was about to do had nothing to do with Logan or anything he had taught me. I jumped out of the ship, falling a good distance to the ground, hurting most of my lower body including my femur and hips, which had already healed in less than a minute.

I hissed at the sudden pain, walking forward slowly, before looking to my right, to see the hill that the house of my childhood rested upon.


	22. I Never Wanted To Kill You

It was dark out, the sun had set half an hour ago, six years ago this would be the time I started on my chores. Feeding the donkey, rounding the few chickens we had up for the night, getting a bucket of water incase one of us got thirsty during the night, or got hurt and needed the wound washed out. I sighed deeply, I was born here, I was going to die here.

I walked up the old trail leading up the small hill to the house. I passed by a medium sized rock resting against a tree, a simple enough picture, but that one had a pretty gruesome story behind it.

_**I struggled against the children pulling me away from the barn, towards the edge of the hill, "Let me go!" I ordered.**_

_**The oldest one of them, a girl names Ai smirked, "Sure thing."**_

_**They shoved me harshly over the side, and I tumbled down, hitting my head against a large rock propped up against the side of a tree.**_

_**The kids rushed over, gasping as they saw me groaning in pain, and holding my head as blood oozed out. One of the younger girls turned to Ai, "She's bleeding!"**_

"_**You don't think I know that?" Ai snapped, turning away and running, "Just leave her there!"**_

_**They ran off, leaving a six year old girl with a bleeding head wound suffering and alone.**_

_**I laid there, sobbing a the pain that I had never experienced before, until I came to the startling realization that the pain was fading slowly. Eventually, it was gone. I felt around for a cut or scab, but the flesh and skull were fine, and the only evidence there was an injury was a splatter of blood.**_

_**I started shivering at what had just happened, holding up my blood covered hands, staring at them, "What am I?"**_

First time discovering my healing factor wasn't pretty, when my mother found out, she had me fake a head injury for two months, walking around in fake bandages and stitches. Looking back on it, she hadn't been that shocked when I told her, she looked a bit more… sad. I kept walking up the hill, past the barn where we had kept our donkey and chickens.

The mean old donkey we used to have was long gone, but the small dent in the ground from where I had fallen off of the three story barn was still there. One of our chickens had flown up there for some reason, and I was idiotic enough to try and climb up to get it down. I had succeeded in getting up there, but I hadn't given one thought as to how I would get down while holding the chicken in one hand.

Not one of my best moments.

I walked past the barn, up to the front porch, where my mother used to sit with me in the late evenings, listening to the frogs sing and the crickets played music. I could hear a few frogs now, but no crickets yet.

I hoped he didn't kill me before they started playing, it would be a pleasant thing to die to. Strange how I was thinking now, accepting I was going to die, willing to die tonight, it had changed my thinking a little. I wasn't so ready to fight, maybe I could get him talking, stall him that way?

I walked past the porch, and into the house, where I saw him sitting down on the other side of the kitchen table, eyes closed, cross-legged. He was meditating.

I closed the door behind me, and his eyes opened, that smile I hate so much spreading over his face as he looked at me. "I kind of expected you to bring Logan, but I can see he won't be coming."

"He doesn't know, I never told him." I said, walking forward so I was on the other side of the table, starring down at him.

His eyes searched mine, and his smile disappeared. He had seen something in there he hadn't counted on. "You don't want to fight me?"

I shrugged, "I'm tired of playing this game with you. You find me, beat the life nearly out of me, and then I run. You find me again, and the cycle continues. Frankly I'm sick of it."

He raised an eyebrow, "You think not fighting me will change anything."

"I'm not just not fighting, I'm giving up." I said. His eyes widened, mouth opening a little. "You win, you're very good at playing a game I want nothing to do with."

I walked closer, sitting across from him at the table. "So, I'm ready to stop playing, I never wanted to start."

His look of shock slowly faded away. He had never expected this from me, he wanted a better game, a fight, resistance. He wasn't going to get it. Not a real one.

He shook his head, "You think I'm going to kill you?"

"Isn't that what it's all been about?" I asked, snorting. "You want to rule the world, Romulus, Logan, Laura, maybe Sabertooth, and I are pretty much the only people who could ever really stop you. You want to kill us all."

Slowly, ever so slowly, a smile spread over his face, not the plotting one I hated, but a smile one would give to a gullible three year old who you just brushed off with the stork story. "I've never wanted to kill you!" He busted out into laughter, "Where did you ever get that idea? Did you fall off the idiot tree when you were born?"

I glared at Daken, not liking this at all, this wasn't the plan, this wasn't what I expected. "I kind of got that impression the day you pinned me to a tree and gutted me on the forest floor. Ring a bell?"

He eventually stopped laughing, shaking his head slowly at my 'stupidity'. "You're so naïve, you think everything is black and white, I don't want to kill you." He met my gaze, and in that one look, I knew whatever he wanted to do with me was far worse than what I had in mind previously.

I bit my tongue gently, holding my breath at the same time. I slowly released my tongue, "What do you want from me then?"

He laughed again, but this one wasn't carefree and slightly amused, this one was dark and sinister. "I want to **own **you."

It was worse than I could have ever imagined, Daken wanted to own me, to possess me and use me like a soldier, like Romulus had done to him, like Romulus now wanted to do to me. Great, in two weeks, I find out that Daken and Romulus both wanted to use me in their own twisted goals to achieve-

It really somehow amazed me that my mind rants could shoot a valuable piece of info into my lap that I could use. Information that will be my strength, my tool, my weapon.

"Well, you've got competition then." I said, smirking, "Family competition."

He snorted, "You'll get bored of Logan soon enough, and when you realize-"

"I'm not talking about Logan." I said, using my pheromones to disguise any emotions through my scent. He raised his eyebrow, I don't think it was because of the sudden shift in my scent, but rather the words that had been spoken. "Romulus has expressed his interests in me, leaving quite a clear message for me about his interests."

I shrugged, "Why would I ever join you, when Romulus is stronger, had more resources, and probably a lot more economically fulfilling."

Daken stiffened, "You wouldn't dare join him, I know Logan's warned you about him."

"He's warned me about you also, he made sure I was quite educated with your past, your tactics, your games, and all your abilities. Same with Romulus. If I do get bored of Logan, why one Earth would I pass up a chance to rebel against him with someone he hates, rather than someone he loves?" I questioned.

"What are you saying?" Daken growled.

"I'm saying, we both want Romulus dead, and quite frankly, I can't kill him myself, he's to strong. I know you couldn't kill him either now that he doesn't trust you, now that he sees you as an enemy." I smirked, "We both need each other, and threatening me with Lovette isn't going to make me want to help you out."

"Without my help, you can't kill him." Daken pointed out, thinking he had won. "And Logan would never let you fight Romulus, he'd make you sit out of the fight. A fight that you have every right to be apart of."

"True, Logan wouldn't want me to get mixed up in it, to blind with caring for me to realize I was born into that fight. Laura however, she would feel quite differently, she's getting really big into the whole 'choose your own fate' thing." I said. "Now, are we going to end this, because quite honestly, I won the minute I said Romulus."

He was silent for a long time, so long I was able to count to three hundred, until he finally smiled that smile I hate, "You really are my daughter aren't you?"

I stood up, as did he, "In blood only, in every other way possible, I am nothing like you."

"Really?" He asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a phone. "Cause last time I checked, Logan doesn't talk like that, Logan doesn't fight with strategy, or fight with words. _Those actions_, all of them, are all mine." He dialed the number without looking, "Try to prove me wrong."

He put the phone to his hear, and as it rang, I grit my teeth together, trying to find some way to defy him, but I failed. He smirked, "See? You're a lot like me."

He spoke into the phone, "Let the girl go… guys?"

I smirked, shaking my head, "No point, Conner's already rescued Lovette, and she's in an alien space craft headed for Happy Harbor as we speak."

He was silent, staring at me, "More likely, he's been shot with a kryptonite bullet."

My blood ran cold, "What?"

"You think I would risk you sending superman or his little brat after the carrot top?" He asked, "I gave you rules, and you broke them. Whether or not you regret his death, that's entirely up to you, but grieving over a mindless and heartless clone is not my definition of strong."

I snatched his phone away, hastily typing in Megan's phone number, it rang slowly, while my heart was racing a million times a minute. Finally, she answered, "Hello?"

"Megan!" I shouted, turning away from Daken to scream into the phone.

"Mio, you're alive?" She questioned.

"Don't let Conner go into the building, keep him out of there!" I ordered.

"Why?" She asked, "We're a good hour away from where I sensed her mind, did something happen?"

"Yeah." I took a few deep breathes, trying to get my heart rate to slow down. "I'm fine, Lovette's gonna be okay. Wanna come back and pick me up?"

They hadn't even left ten minutes ago, of course they hadn't made it there yet. I should have remembered that, but I had gotten so worked up over Conner being shot by kryptonite, I hadn't thought to run the numbers.

"Um… what happened to you going off and dying?" She asked, confused.

"Are you really that ready to bury me?" I asked, a smirk creeping over my face.

"No but… you're really weird." She said. I could almost see her rubbing her forehead, mumbling about strange earth people.

"What was your first clue?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Conner wants to talk to you Mio, he hears your voice, and he's _really _happy you aren't going to die today." She said.

I bit my lip, I'd talk with Megan later. As much as she was weak and a bit pathetic in my opinion, I didn't want to hurt her, I cared for her.

"Okay."

The phone shifted, and Conner's voice came over the phone, "Mio." He said, just saying my name, speaking a thousand words with just one.

I stopped biting me lip, "Conner."

I heard Daken chuckle behind me, and then Conner spoke again, "We'll come pick you up, did you kill Daken or something?"

"Or something." I answered, my thoughts drifting to the man behind me, and what he had said. _Own _me. I fought back the urge to shiver, and spoke again, "Just get over here, I have a feeling we'll be giving him a ride."

I looked over my shoulder, to see Daken nod, I was right.

"What!" Conner questioned, "Why would we ever-"

"Just do what you're told." I snapped. "Batman's gonna make me give a report on this later, you can read about it."

"I don't like this."

"I don't really care."

"Yes you do." Conner said, I knew he was smiling.

"Goodbye Conner." I said, hanging up, and handing the phone back to Daken.

He was smiling, in an amused 'I just found something out' way. "What?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Nothing."

I walked out the door, and he was following me at a slightly uncomfortable distance, meaning right on my heels.

The bio ship wasn't in sight, it would be a few minutes. Daken put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me even closer. I didn't like that at all. "Wonder what they'd do if I told them I was your father?" He asked, his lips right next to my ear, he knew I didn't like people so close, he was trying to get me to play along. Fine, I would.

"Probably something along the lines of: that's so three weeks ago." I said, shrugging his hand off, "I told them already, and you know what? The only thing they were mad about was the fact I didn't tell them sooner. They're good kids, and they don't judge."

I knew he was shocked, but he would never show it. "I've finally got a home, a real family. There, we're all in it together, we'd die for each other, we fight for each other, and if one of us is hurt, all of us are. We have our secrets, but we're not held back by that."

Daken shook his head, "You're so pathetic, Logan really messed you up. Brainwashed you pretty good, I'm gonna have to ask him his method."

I gave him a look, "To tell the truth, and to not keep secrets from family."

He smirked, "That's you're rule?"

"Yeah."

"Then tell me the truth."

"I don't consider you family, I consider you a thorn in my side." I said, "You're a coward."

He grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around and shoving his fist under my chin, his claws coming up on either side of my face, "What did you just call me?" He growled.

I didn't falter, "You're a coward, a scared little boy who's running away from his daddy instead of facing his crimes."

Daken laughed, threw his head back, and held his sides in pure delight and amusement. I frowned, as the bio ship came into view. "I hate you." I growled, as it landed, and we both walked up to it.

Daken just chuckled, finally over his laughing fit, "No you don't. Maybe you want to, but you don't."

Conner walked over as we boarded,, grabbing my arms and yanking me into a rib breaking hug.

"Conner…" I mumbled into his chest.

He smiled down at me, "Yeah?"

"You're breaking me ribs." I choked, and ha released me, still smiling as the bones snapped back together, and the bio ship took off.

"Sorry." He said. He pulled me into a lighter hug, as Daken sat down in one of the chairs. "I'm just happy."

I pulled away from him, sitting down in a seat across from Daken. Not to close to him, but not so far away I would look weak. "Whatever."

I knew that hurt him, but displaying emotion in front of people, especially Daken, was a weakness, and a fault. Not now, not right now.


	23. My God You're Right

We landed the bio ship behind the trees, and I told Megan to wait there. If Daken was trying to trap me, it would be better for her to take off in the ship without me, get Logan. I tried to convince Conner to stay onboard to, wanna know how that went?

"**Okay, Daken, you're going in first." I ordered as Megan landed the bio ship.**

"**You don't trust me?" He asked, pretending to me hurt.**

**I gave him and look, and he smirked, "Smart girl."**

**Megan spoke up, "You want me to set up a link with his mind?"**

"**No." I said quickly, "Don't try to read his mind Megan. There's something in there, it's a trap for telepaths."**

**Megan's eyes widened at Daken, who smirked at me, "You do your homework?"**

"**Every night after dinner and before bedtime." I said dismissively.**

"**You sound confident that you know me, that I can't keep anything form you." He challenged. "I don't think so."**

**I glared at him, and stood a little straighter, chin raised in defiance. "You think I'm overconfident and stupid? You think all I do is sit around sharpening my claws? I always check everything three times. The first time out of curiosity, the second time to assure myself, and the third time to plan for an action against it."**

"**You're trying to sound like you're some kind of unbeatable foe. Ten steps ahead of me, that's where you're trying to get me to think you are." He said, smirking. He was trying to push a button. Why not just go for the you're-Mother-is-dead button?**

"**No, I'm not." I said, walking towards him. "What I'm telling you is that I'm not the little girl who ran away from you in terror. I'm not a little girl anymore at all, and you can realize that, or you can be overconfident, and by doing that, you'll have dug your own grave."**

**Daken smirked down at me, "I'm not afraid of you, I'll never be afraid of you. You're trying to make me scared of you but it won't happen."**

"**I'm not." I insisted, "These aren't threats, they're promises, of what will happen."**

"**What else do you suppose will happen?" He said, slightly amused and bordering on the edge of intrigued.**

"**If you hurt one pigtail on Lovette's head, I will end you. If you try to hurt anyone close to me, I will end you. If you ever go back to my childhood home, I will end you. If you ever, and I mean ever think for one moment that you'll win this game you dragged me into, than you'll actually own me-"**

"**You'll end me?" He asked, mocking me.**

"**No." I said, as Megan lowered the ramp and he walked towards the building Lovette was in. "I'll prove you wrong."**

**He just kept walking, but I knew he was laughing, super hearing, sucked sometimes.**

**I looked at Conner, "Stay on the ship with Megan, I'll follow Daken and wait outside until he comes out with Lovette."**

"**I'm coming with you." He said firmly.**

"**No." I said looking him straight in the eye. "I don't need your protection Conner, I'm a big girl, I can take care of my self."**

"**I don't trust him." Conner debated.**

**I sighed, "Okay, fine."**

"**Really?" Conner asked.**

"**No." I said, quickly jumping onto one of the seats, then flying knee first at Conner's head, he was now out cold. I heard Daken laughing from right outside the facility.**

I leaned on a tree outside the building, glaring at the two guards posted outside of the doors, who were getting increasingly nervous by the second. Pitiful, I wasn't even using my pheromones.

Eventually, Daken walked out of the building, holding Lovette by the hand tightly, so she wouldn't run.

Lovette looked petrified, she was afraid to do anything to make him notice her more so than he already did. Right now, his eyes were locked on me, and she would do anything to make sure he didn't look at her. She was completely terrified of him. What had that monster done to her?

Daken kept walking until he was three feet from me, and then released Lovette's hand. She immediately made a mad dash to me, clinging onto my upper thigh and started crying her eyes out. I didn't break eye contact with Daken, but I did rest my hand on the top of her head, stroking her hair gently. "I'll kill you for this."

He raised an eyebrow, "Now?"

I took a deep breath, "No. I'm letting you go this time, but I'm not letting this go. I don't forgive anyone easily, and I never forget."

He shook his head, chuckling, "You never learn do you? Why would I want you to forgive me, or even forget my actions against you? Why would I want to be forgotten, or for my actions to fade in your memory?"

"Anger is easy to manipulate." I pointed out, "That's why you do the things you do. However, there's a difference between anger and complete and utter rage."

"I know." He said, "I'll let you and Lovette go this time, but next time I see you, I'm not holding back."

"Neither will I." I promised.

I picked Lovette up, and took her through the woods and onto the bio ship, which immediately took off before I was even seated. Megan must really wanna get away from him. Conner was starting to come to from his place in the chair. Megan must have levitated him there after I left him on the floor unconscious.

I sat down in one chair, and Lovette wrapped her arms around my neck, crying her eyes out. "It's okay Lovette." I soothed, stroking her hair again. "You're safe now."

"I don't like him Mio." She sobbed.

I nodded, picking up my mask from the seat next to me and staring at it. He was going to be so mad when he found out.

I shivered at the thought, I loved Logan, he was my grandfather, and he loved me too. I know this because not only did he say so (granted not often, he's a man of actions not words he's actually only said it once, and he was awkward while saying it) but also with actions. Training me brutally was his way of protecting me and making sure I could protect myself. Being overprotective was annoying when he wouldn't let me do certain things, like he would never let me fight Romulus, and wouldn't have let me confront Daken if he had known, but from someone else's point of view, it might have been normal grandfatherly behavior, but to me, it wasn't. It was fatherly behavior. Logan was more than a grandfather to me, he was my father, the only one I had and the only one I needed.

I shook my head as we landed the bio ship and Conner came to, walking in with me and Lovette while Megan waved u ahead, probably wanted to cry her eyes out in peace. I'd make it up to her. I'm nothing if not extremely prone to guilt and constantly trying to make up for that.

"Are you sure you wanna face the team right now?" Conner asked as Lovette ran ahead of us, taking the stairs while we headed for the elevator. "With everything that happened today, I mean, you must be pretty angry."

"Oh please." I dismissed, "I'm not angry in the least."

"You… aren't?" He asked, a little shocked as I pushed the elevator button.

"No, I wasn't even mad at Daken for taking Lovette." I said, then shook my head as the elevator opened up, staring at the ground. "I was terrified, and disgusted at the same time. Not because of him but because it took me this long to realize I'm the worst big sister ever. Or considering the way Lovette views me the more appropriate term would be mother."

"You?" Conner asked as we stepped in to the elevator. "Oh come on, you're a very scary- I mean, uh, loving mother. You remember last week when you chewed out Artemis and Zatanna for not calling in to you for back up with that ghost girl thing? And do you remember that time you told Megan she wasn't the worst fighter in the world?"

"You mean two days ago?" I asked.

"You have no idea how much that meant to her. She was up all night jumping up and down on her bed because of that." Conner encouraged.

I shook my head, "I'm unsupportive, cold, cruel, and on occasion unreliable."

"Mio, you're always there when we need you." Conner said as the elevator opened and we walked out.

Roy and Artemis were arguing again in the middle of the room. Robin and Wally were watching form a few feet away, to timid to step in on the fight.

"You think I didn't know about dear old daddy?" Roy sneered, and I cast a glance at the two of them, who hadn't noticed us. Wally raised an eyebrow, not understanding.

Artemis looked completely horrified, and helpless "I never want to be his-"

"You're such a daddies girl! You **are **the spy, a sorry excuse for a hero, and constantly lying to your friends." Roy said, and Artemis bit her lip, crossing her arms at him and trying to stand her ground, but he was ruthless, while Artemis had morals about judging someone from their past, he didn't.

"Just leave!" She snapped, "You don't belong here just leave me alone!" She said, he voice shaking a little.

"I belong her a lot more than you, Crock!" He snapped, and she winced, blinking. "And why am I not leaving rather than waste time with you, because I really don't wanna miss you break out into **tears**!"

Artemis lowered her head a little, feelings coming up she couldn't control, blinking a little faster. "Here they come!" Roy urged, "Great big crocodile tears!"

Robin and Wally looked really shocked at Roy's actions, to shocked to step in, to appalled at his behavior.

"See?" Conner whispered to me, "If she was your daughter, you'd know exactly how to handle that."

I looked at Artemis, and then to Conner, "My God, you're right."

I walked behind Roy as Artemis nearly reached he breaking point, and cleared my throat, tapping on his shoulder. He turned around to look at me, and I quickly shoved my left claw into his gut, careful not to hit anything vital in him, and as he screamed and leaned forward as I yanked my claw out, I shoved my fist right into his face, sending him sprawling and knocking him out cold.

I turned to Artemis, "You're getting better every day Barbie. You make yourself, not your blood."

I stepped over Roy's unconscious form, and then smiled at Wally and Robin as Lovette ran into the room. I scooped her up quickly, beaming at the two of them, "You all have a good one." I smiled over at Artemis again, "I'm goin' home with my sister."

"… Thank you?" Artemis called after me.

I walked out of there, leaving them with Roy.

WITH THE TEAM:

They all stared at Roy, Megan who had entered some time during Roy screaming about Artemis crying was covering her mouth with her hands, shaking her head in disbelief.

Wally just stared at his bleeding form, mouth hanging open in shock. Robin was talking into his phone, "And then she punched him right in the mouth, Batman! He's bleeding like a sucker, and you should have seen this, we're gonna have to burn a couple copies of the security footage and send one to **everybody**!"

Conner just cocked his head to the side. _This may become a problem for Mio… _


	24. You're Fired

Batman glared at me, "You stabbed Red Arrow, knocked him out, and then left him on the floor to bleed out."

I shook my head, "No, I knew the kids would take care of it. No harm no foul."

He just glared at me, and then I sighed, "Worth a shot. So, how long am I suspended?"

"Suspension does not begin to cover it." Batman snapped.

"Watashi wa sono Oto ga sukide wa arimasen." _I don't like the sound of that._

"You're actions will be discussed with the seven founding members of the League, Green Arrow, and Wolverine, then we'll decide what to do with you. Rest assured, being **fired **is the least of your concerns." Batman said, turning on his heel and stalking away.

My eyes widened as Superman, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado left with him. I turned to Logan, who was leaning on the far wall. He just shook his head, "Relax kid, they can't do anything other than fire you."

I glared at him, "Are you kidding me! I don't wanna get **fired**! I've never been fired in my life."

He shrugged, "You stabbed a high profile member of the Justice League's son in the stomach, you really think they're just gonna suspend you?"

"Yes!" I yelled, "You've got friends on the League, can't you pull some strings?"

"Strings?" Logan questioned, "Kid, I could pull a hundred titanium cords, and it wouldn't help anything. Relax, I can't tell you how many times I've been fired."

"That's not helping!" I yelled, "I was defending Artemis, they should understand that!"

"They do." Logan explained, "But they still have rules, rules that can't be overlooked or written off." he walked past me, touching my shoulder gently as he passed. "I'm sorry kid, I can't help you on this one."

He left, and I just stared at the floor for a minute. I shook my head for a moment, and then walked up to a punching bag. I popped my right middle finger claw, glaring at the bag. I really only used my middle finger claws, since my other ones were from the bottom of my wrist, they were harder to use, and the ones from my knuckles were edged, like Logan's. The ones from my wrist weren't, I don't know why Hydra made them like that. Maybe I just left before they could do anything else.

I sliced right in the middle of the punching bag, and it ripped all the way through, the severed end falling through the floor. In my mind, it wasn't a now disabled punching bag, it was Red Arrow's mangled body. I sighed, pulling my claw in and staring at the mess in front of me. Great, now I have to clean this up.

**WOLVERINE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

"I know you don't like me Clark, but the last thing I ever expected you to do was take that out on Mio." I said evenly.

"She stabbed Red Arrow and left him to bleed out on the ground." Clark said, returning my look.

"She was trying to defend Artemis, and she knew the others would take care of him. Give the kid a break, she just got done rescuing her little sister from my boy." I spat. "She might be a tough kid, but there's only so much a kid can take before they do something stupid."

"I will give her a break Logan, a long one. Maybe in a year or two we can consider taking her back." He said, and turned to leave.

"You doing this because of Ollie's brat, or because you noticed your boy's been gettin' cozy with my little girl?" I asked, and he froze, turning to look at me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Conner and Mio, if you paid him nay attention, you'd know, your boy is head over heels for her. Won't stop tryin' to follow her around, everywhere she goes." I said, stepping towards him. "With Mio gone, he'd have no real reason to stay here. Probably follow her wherever she went. You saw that, and now you're using it."

"I did not!" He protested. "This isn't about my- about Conner at all. It's about her mental stability to care for these kids."

"You knew when you recruited her she would have issues." I said, "Her last name pretty much covers any reasons she needs. You've never done anything for that boy of your's Clark."

"He's not my-"

"Bull." I snapped. "Pure bull, and you know it. Laura is my clone, and I never treated her as bad as you treat him. Sure, I'm not exactly a loving father, but I tried, I'm still trying. She's messed up a little, we all are. I'm gonna tell ya right now, if you keep treatin' Conner like this, he's gonna get worse than her, worse that Laura, Mio, and Daken all combined."

Clark looked like Lois had just smacked him right across his face. I shook my head, "Now, normally I mind my own business, but this is to close to home with me. Talk to him."

"You can't tell me what to do." Clark said.

"Reached desperation already?" I scoffed. "Don't make me take this to Ma and Pa."

Clark stiffened, "You wouldn't dare-"

"Think about who you're talkin to."

He was silent.

"If you aren't gonna talk to him, at least let him have this Clark. At least let him have her." I ordered.

Clark shook his head, "And you're okay with him? Last time I checked, you ran off any boy who looked at any of your girls in that way."

"That's cause almost none of 'em looked back. But you listen to me, wherever Mio goes, Conner's gonna follow. I don't know how this all got started. Maybe they both just have Daddy problems, maybe it's because Mio is the only thing that can hurt Conner, and that got him to open his eyes, I don't know, and I don't care. All I care about is that Mio is happy when he's around now. If you listen, you can hear them in the living room, not talking at all, but their heart beats are pretty close to each other."

Clark listened for a minute, and then just sighed, sitting down in a chair nearby. "I don't know what to do about this boy Logan, I feel bad about not being there, but I just… I can't… I didn't want this!"

"I know the feeling, but trust me when I say… man up and get over it already, the kid needs you." I said, "And seeing as you're not going to man up anytime soon you pathetic boy scout, let the kid have this."

Clark shook his head, "We hate each other, how did they start liking each other! When did this even happen?"

I laughed, "I know, trust me one of the top five people I now want to kill is now your son."

"I thought you wanted them to be together." Clark said, confused.

"I want a lot of things." I said, "One of the top three is to not have to wear this ridiculous costume anymore, but Summer's requires it."

Clark just shook his head, "Just because I vote for her to stay, doesn't mean they others will."

"You can be pretty influencing." I said, walking away. I **hate **Superman, I really do.

**WITH THE COUNCIL:**

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Batman growled, staring me down. All of them were staring me down, the seven original members, Green Arrow, even Logan.

I shrugged, "I did it because he was verbally abusing my team mate. You all would have done it too, maybe not like I did, but you would have done something like that. I know I did go a bit overboard with shutting him up, but I stand by my actions, and I'd gladly do it again. No one messes with my team, no matter who they are."

Wonder Woman spoke up, "You aren't exactly a member of that team."

"When I say my team, I don't mean that I'm in it, I just mean that… well, it's _my _team. I know they aren't my sidekicks, or partners, but I do know that I've put my sweat, blood, and free time into this team. After that, I think it's safe to say that I am somewhat a part of it." I explained.

"There is behavior other than attacking Red Arrow. You took off with Megan and Conner to confront a dangerous villain, Daken Akihiro." Superman pointed out.

"His name is Daken Howlett, whether he likes it or not." I said firmly, "And I had to take them with me, because Conner wouldn't let me go by myself. I have no idea what's with your kid, but he's like a cockroach, just can't get rid of him."

He was silent after that.

Logan spoke up, "I can't stand behind you on that act kid, you know Daken is better than you, he could have killed you."

I faced him, "We can talk about that later, alone." I turned back to the League, "Look, we all know what's going on, now, am I fired or not?"

**CONNER'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I out my head in my hands, sitting outside the door with everyone else.

"They won't really fire her, right?" Artemis asked, "I mean, she's the best teacher we've ever had."

"She's kind of mean." Megan whispered.

"Yeah but, Artemis is kind of mean too." Robin said, shrugging.

Megan was silent after that, so Wally spoke up, "I hate this, they're all just sitting behind that door, destroying Mio's career! Once they're done with her, she'll never be able to work anywhere! Avengers, Defenders, Justice League, the only thing she had left is the X-men now.

I groaned, "They're really firing her, aren't they?"

"She's done working here." Robin said sadly. "I mean, they don't just brush something like this off. This isn't just a slap on the wrist."

Kaldur nodded solemnly, "I can hardly imagine the pain she is feeling."

Suddenly, the doors opened, and Mio burst out, punching the air victoriously and yelling, "YES! YES! I am **bulletproof**!"

"She's taking this surprisingly well." Wally noted.

I jumped up, "What happened?"

She turned to me, the brightest smile I've ever seen on her face. Like a single marine had just fought her way through an entire army. "What happened? Nothing! No suspension, to firing, no probation, no nothing!"

No one says a word, but the league does file out of the room one by one, shaking their heads at Mio's behavior. Logan's laughing though, walking next to Wonder Woman, "If you think she's excited now, you should have seen her on her fifteenth birthday, kid looked like she had never seen a motorcycle before!"

I know Mio doesn't like that, Logan talking about her in that way. She doesn't like it that now in Wonder Woman's eyes (And anyone else's eyes who overheard, A.K.A. everyone in the room) her claws just lost a little edge.

"She jumped on that bike and nearly ran over Summers! Before he could get up and scream like the girl he is, she was already half a mile away!" And now she's got it back.

Mio isn't one to show emotion publicly, so I know if I picked her up and kissed her right now, she might never forgive me. I can't help it, I want her more than I've ever wanted anything. I'd do anything she asked me to do, and truth be told, if she had gotten fired and gone back to the X-men, I would have been right behind her the whole way.

She wouldn't have done the same for me, I know that much. I may be a dork, but I'm not a dweeb. I know she loves me, but not nearly as much as I love her.

I gently put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around to look at me, raising an eyebrow, but she knows very well what I'm doing. She just shook her head no.

Batman spoke up, "You getting off this time doesn't change anything. Your anger is still constantly being triggered." Mio yawned a little, and he continued, "You should get help, therapy or-"

"Yawn!" Mio snapped, and everyone was silent, watching the two of them. "I say yawn, because when I really yawned, you didn't get it."

Batman just glared at her as she walked away with Logan, "See you in Hell."

Robin sighed, "There goes any chance of you letting me spend the summer at Utopia X, huh?"

Batman just walked away. Everyone just left after, I figured I was alone, staring after Mio. What was it that Wally always said? Hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave. True.

I looked over my shoulder, to see Superman watching me. As soon as I had seen him, he just walked away.

Why won't he just talk to me? Do I make it that awkward? He shouldn't be afraid of me, I'm not going to kill him, so why doesn't he just… talk to me?

I sighed, and just went to my room. I'll hang out with Mio later, but right now, I just need to be alone for awhile.

**MIO'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Logan sighed, "You're sure he wasn't lying?"

"Positive." I said. "I'd believe you were a cocaine addict before I believed he was lying to me."

Logan gave me a look. "Sorry." I shrugged.

He just shook his head, "Maybe you should come back to Utopia X with me, Lovette too."

I raised my chin in defiance, "If Lovette wants to go, she can. I'm staying Logan."

"Daken's going to come back. Probably soon." He said, "Come home."

"No." I said firmly. "These kids need me… and I… I like it here. I'm staying."

"He'll just come back!" Logan said, exasperated, "I'm sorry, but I don't want my only grandkid to get killed!"

"He's not going to kill me."

"Well, I don't want you severely maimed!" He shouted, "I don't want him to hurt you anymore, can't you just do what I tell you, for once?"

"Not this time." I persisted, "I'm not going to run form him anymore. He's finally revealed what this game is really about, and if he wants to try and win, so be it. I'm not going to just roll over and let him win though. He's going to have the fight of his life trying to win this game, and I mean that quite literally. He will _never _win, I swear to you, you and my mother."

"Your skills-"

"Have never been better." I said, standing a little taller at this newfound strength I had discovered. "I don't care if you don't believe in me, I don't care if no one has my back on this. I know what the odds are. Ninety nine to one against me, he doesn't stand a chance."

Logan was quiet for a moment, until he just sighed, shaking his head, "You're to much like him kid."

I stiffened, then growled, "What?"

"You're to confident, and don't try to brush it off with the whole 'I am nothing like him' front you put up all the time." Logan turned around, "If you wanna get yourself killed, be my guest. I can't stop you. But right as you're about to die, just remember, I tried to help you."

He walked away, and I growled, clenching my fists. How dare he tell me I'm like Daken, He knows very well I'm nothing like him!

"Go to Hell!" I screamed after him. I know he heard me, loud and clear.

"Nothing like him. I care about people. I really do." I whispered, staring at the floor.


	25. I Can Not Get Drunk, So Why Do I Try?

"You want another one kid?" Asked the bar tender.

I sighed, looking down at my now empty beer bottle in front of me. Beer was pretty much the only food that was supposed to make you feel better, make you forget about everything. But it couldn't do that for me. It was one more thing being the daughter of Daken stole from me.

"Why not?" I moaned.

"You sure you haven't had enough?" The guy asked.

"Just give me one." I snapped.

He handed me another, and I took a sip, letting the burn and bitter taste slide down my throat. I didn't even turn to look when the bar door opened, and Artemis and Conner walked in.

Artemis took the bottle away from me, "Mio… you're drunk?"

"I can't get drunk." I shot down, "All poisons, including alcohol are fought off by my healing factor."

"So you're just sitting here, playing with your healing factor?" She questioned.

"Makes me seem like a bit of a jerk when you say it that way." I mumbled.

"Are you really just going to sit here and drink until you can't sit up straight?" She snapped.

"Can't get drunk. What part of that do you not understand?" I asked.

"Lovette's about to leave with Logan in ten minutes, why aren't you there, saying goodbye?" Artemis accused.

"Don't get all PMS with me, I know you, all of you idiots, view me as some kind of superhero while you're civilians. I know you, instead of just bonding with Green Arrow or Black Canary, decided to latch onto my as a mentor. I'm gonna tell you right now, knock it off." I snapped.

"I'm not golden, I'm not a hero, I'm not a good guy." I said evenly.

"That's bull." Artemis said, glaring at me.

"I've killed young children before Artemis." I said. "I had no good reason either. I had a nightmare while I was living on the streets with Lovette, and I tried to kill her when she woke me up, I flew into a rage. Chased her down the street, claws drawn."

Artemis look horrified, bordering on the edge of disgusted.

"People tried to stop me from hurting her, and I killed them all." I said. "Mothers, fathers, children, grandparents. They were all just meat bags standing in me way."

**"So, your the famous Mio, huh?" The man, Norman Osborn asked. I knew who he was, big dealer in the government, leader of the Dark Avengers. The people who were now surrounding me in the small living room."Famous?" I asked in a deadpan voice, not really caring."Your famous now." He said, taking out a folder, holding it so I couldn't see anything in it, and took out a picture, and handed it to me. The woman, Dark Avengers version of Mrs. Marvel, and Lovette sat on the couch, the man who had recently broken my nose, Daken, leaned against the wall, watching me with interest.**

**It had been Daken who had stopped my killing rampage on the street, who had knocked me out and brought me here. I hated him, but could not help but respect him for his talents, his power, his skill. The way he moved the fight was always on his terms. The way he stood, everyone in this room was under his subtle control, whether they knew it or not.**

**I could not help wondering, if I was under his control, but ultimately decided I was not. He had not known me long enough to have control over me yet. It would not take to long to leave. Stay for the moment, gain trust, faith, and create an illusion of dependence, then kill them all, starting with Norman.**

**The picture he was holding up was of me, standing in the middle of the street, surrounded by bodies. Lovette was standing off to the side, watching with helpless horror. It was taken by a street it pained me so much to see Lovette like that, I managed to say, "That's a crappy camera, the picture's all blurry."He glared at me, "I'm glad you find this humorous, countless lives destroyed, families severed, lives ruined."**

"**I am not taking this humorously, I am very disappointed in this action." I said.**

"**Really?"**

"**Of course, every single killing was sloppy. The young man I'm standing on in this picture, I did not sever his neck properly, I should have cut straight across, not diagonal. The woman fallen right next to him, I hit her heart by stabbing through his spine, there was no pain, to suffering. Damaging her spine ended her pain, and any injury after that was pointless."**

**His glare pierced through my eyes, "You truly are nothing more than an animal, are you?"**

"**Aren't we all?" I questioned. "Deep down, in the darkest corners of your mind, I am sure to find something far worse than what I have done today."**

"**Do you really feel nothing about those deaths?" Bullseye asked, disgusted.**

"**I am sorry I do not remember the fight. I blacked out, and the rage took over. I am truly sorry I do not remember the pain, suffering, the screaming." I described, deciding to let them know what my mind truly looked like. "Most serial killers I've met like the look of fear on the victims face the most about every kill, or the feeling of the victims blood on their hands. But me? I prefer the screams."**

**Most looked disgusted, except Daken, he looked a bit more… intrigued at this statement, as if he liked something a little different from the scream, and wanted to know why I preferred it. Like a debate between politics.**

"**In Hydra, they told me not to scream. They told to cry was excusable, natural. They told me a scream was intolerable. While crying says that the body has been overcome by an emotion, screaming is an act of desperation, an act seeking pity and consolation. This is the ultimate dishonor, that is what they told me."Norman looked ready to really school me on my savage ways and blood thirst, but I just shook my head. "Your taking life far to seriously Norman. Lighten up, and enjoy it, whatever makes you happy, do it. It's not like your going to live through life, so why be serious?"He kept talking about all the people who had been identified, Sarah Rosemary, age forty-three. She had a husband, and two little girls, neither one was even thirteen. Ben Wyoming, fifteen years old, his parents had just sent him to the story to get a jug of milk. Paul McDonald, twenty-five, had a fiancé, and a baby on the way. John Oberon, fifty-three, had a now widowed wife, and a son in college. Each name made me want to cry. But I kept a straight face, and finally when I had enough, I asked, "Done yet?"He glared, "As I was saying, these people are all dead now-""No, really?" I asked smartly."And it is entirely your fault.""Yep.""And your not even sorry.""Nope." I lied. Daken smirked, and I could tell he had smelled the lie on me."It's in the governments best interest that you work for us. You'll be trained by someone on the team of my choosing, you'll go on missions with the others, you'll do anything we ask of you without argument." He ordered, and stared me down, daring me to refuse. Idiot, if I did, he couldn't stop me, he was counting on Daken, and maybe the woman to bail him out.**

"**Okay." I said. "I will stay."**

**Norman was surprised, he was expecting resistance. I would not give that to him just yet, as I have said before: gain trust, faith, and create an illusion of dependence, then kill them all, starting with Norman. I have also decided, I will end with Daken, who vaguely intrigues me. I will make his death more of a complicated plot than a death. I will find out everything about him, including what puts him in control, and take it from him.**

**Then, I will kill him.**

I shook the thoughts away, "Innocent people, in cold blood, just walking down the wrong street."

Artemis held up a hand, "Stop."

I shrugged, "That's who I am Artemis."

"That's who you were." Conner said, speaking up for the first time. "And right now, you'd never hurt Lovette. You'd never kill an innocent, especially not in cold blood, over nothing!"

He grabbed my arm, yanking me up to stare him in the eye. "You're different. You've changed. Changed into a wonderful person, who's risked her life for people she doesn't even know. Your still dark, very dark, but that, it's fine, it's excusable."

He let me go slowly, his stare softening. "You're… you're someone I care about, I care a lot about you. Everyone waiting for you at Mt. Justice. I know you're not gonna let Lovette go away for a long time without saying goodbye, are you?"

I groaned, walking past him, "Fine, I'm driving."

"But you just drank, and a lot at that." Artemis objected.

"Are you drunk, or did ya just loose all your common sense for today? I. Can't. Get. Drunk." I walked out, jumping onto my motorcycle, "Maybe you really are a blonde."

"Hey!" She snapped.

I just growled, and took off, Lovette was not going anywhere.

I got there while she was walking out, with her back pack. I jumped off my bike, scooping her up and twirling her around.

She laughed, hugging me by throwing her hands around my neck. "I'm gonna miss you Mio!"

"I'll miss you too." I said, holding her closer.

"Then how about I just stay here?" She asked.

I chuckled, shaking my head, "Sorry kid, but I've gotta keep you safe."

"That didn't work last time." She pointed out.

"Yeah, well this time, Daken promised not to come after you." I explained.

"Then why do I have to go?" She asked.

"Because, I don't trust his word, he might just get someone else to go after you." I shrugged. "No one else he sends is gonna be able to get to you Lovette. I promise."

She sighed, "Okay, but I'll miss you."

I smiled, hugging her again, "I'll miss you too."

I walked her out to Logan's truck, placing her in shot gun, and buckling her up. She looked up at me, "Mio, I don't remember my real Mommy."

"I know." I said, she had told me this before. Hydra had taken Lovette when she was an infant, and I had rescued her from them, taken her from the facility, and lived with her on the streets for nearly five months. I had kept her fed, warm, and safe, but I hadn't really given her what she needed. A mother, a loving mother who cared more for her than herself.

"Mio?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"You're my real Mommy." She hugged me again, and my eyes widened, patting her back slowly, and nodding.

They left, and I felt Conner come up behind me, putting a hand on my shoulder, and pulling me into his chest slowly. I looked over my shoulder at him, "What?"

"You're hurting." He said.

"Obviously."

"I wanna help." He offered/demanded/pleaded.

"No." I said firmly, trying to pull away.

"Why?" He asked desperately.

"Because." I said, finally tugging away from his grip, "That's not me. No who I am, or who I will ever be Conner. The me you see come in every day, helping you guys learn and advance in your skills, and caring? It's a lie. You needed me to be nice, to encourage, so I put on a mask. I'm a natural born actor Conner, I could fool Batman if I really tried."

I walked away from him, "I'm going home. I'm glad we had this talk."

I am Mio Howlett. I have no Mother, and a Father who I plan to kill after taking everything from him. I am dependent on no one for comfort, no matter who they are, or how I feel for them.

I am Hell Hound.

I stand alone.


	26. Do You Want To Know?

Conner wasn't human, that much I had already known. He was kryptonian, an alien clone who was one of the last surviving members of the once thriving planet Krypton. I had known that from the beginning, it was my job to know that. I know why I accepted this job, why I jumped at the first chance to get away from the mansion. It wasn't because of Hellion's teasing, or M-day drama, or the fact my older 'sisters' were always treating me like I was five (being the baby of the family sucks, I can promise you that), or even the fact that Laura had ratted me out to Logan about the pheromone power I kept hidden from everyone.

No, I left because I wanted to be my own person, with my own goals and expectations. See, my family is really complicated, all my adopted sisters are, or where, X-men and so was Logan. Pretty much everyone else in my family was a mass murdering villain that had killed a ridiculous amount of people. Literally, ridiculous amounts.

I wanted something different, not an X-man, not a mass murdering psychopath, and I definitely was not going to go all anti-hero on everybody. Young Justice provided an opportunity for that, for getting away and making my own name.

Anyways you get the picture, but back to Conner. I knew he was an alien clone who had little to no knowledge of the way a human was supposed to act, but no one warned me that instead of acting like a human, he acted like a freaking **puppy**!

I growled low in my throat as I glared a the TV, a warning to back off, but of course, he didn't listen. His arms only pulled me closer, nuzzling his face deeper into my neck, and kissing it softly.

I kept my arms crossed, refusing to acknowledge this attention. Conner had enough of being rejected by me verbally, so he stopped offering his affection, and just did what he wanted. Apparently he liked cuddling while he was awake too.

I ground my teeth together as he smiled into my neck. I hated everything about this moment, except him. He had just walked in here while I was watching an episode of 'I Almost Got Away With It' and just plopped right down next to me, wrapped his huge arms around my waist, and yanked me onto his lap like I was his snuggle bunny.

I just growled again, and he responded by ghosting his lips over my neck again, leaving a soft kiss. There was no lust with Conner, no trying to get to the next base, none of the stuff I knew teenage boys did. This wasn't an act of passion, more like an act of puppy love.

The more I started to think about it, the more Conner seemed like a puppy. Whenever he got sad, there was always that cute little pout on his face that was so puppy-like, the only thing missing was a collar.

That thought made me smirk, thinking about putting a collar on him. He probably wouldn't object, he was that vulnerable to me.

Robin suddenly walked into the room, his eyes widening beneath his mask at this sight. Conner ignored him, either that or didn't notice him. I gave him a glare that could put Batman to shame, "You tell, and I will cut you into a thousand little pieces and force feed you to Batman, and make Alfred watch."

Conner suddenly perked up, "Who's Alfred?"

"No one." Robin said quickly, running out of the room. Logan, thank you so much for the many death threats you screamed at me while I was dodging weapons of mass destruction in the danger room. It really paid off.

Conner smiled, happy we were alone again and put his head right back where it was, snuggled against my neck.

"You're such a puppy." I growled.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Never mind." I snapped, trying to wiggle out of his hold, but he held fast, not letting me move. I really didn't want to have to stab his arms to get him to let me go, last time I stabbed someone I nearly got fired. "Let go of me." I ground out.

"No." Was his short reply.

"Why!" I asked, exasperated.

"Because I love you." He said, smirking and holding me closer.

"You're annoying." I snapped. "If you really want to show affection, don't do this!"

He let me go, leaning back a little to get a clear view of me, "What do you want me to do?"

I growled again, and then grabbed the front of his shirt, yanking him forward, and cramming my lips onto his, my hands grasping his shoulders, holding him in place. There was no love in the kiss I forced on him, it was simply filled with aggravation and dominating. The kiss was just me telling him that I was in charge, and that he did what I told him.

For a moment, Conner was just dumbstruck, but when I pulled away, he tried to follow, but I just stood up, "No."

"Why?" He asked, getting angry, "Why can't you just let me love you! Why can't you just give in? I know you love me, and I know you're killing yourself refusing!"

I just shook my head, "I don't want to-"

"Don't lie to me." He ordered.

I was taken back a little, Conner usually just begged, pleaded with me, but never ordered me around. He was growing a spine, and I didn't like it. "Don't tell me what to do."

"Why not?" He snapped.

"Because." I growled, "No one tells me what to do."

"You're father sure does." Conner said, saying the words that we would both regret. "Everything he asks you to do, you just do it like you're his little puppet!"

My jaws clenched, my fists tightened, and my eyes narrowed. My chin raised in defiance, I calmly yet darkly said, "What did you just say to me?"

"You were ready to die for him, just so he could get a little amusement!" Conner snapped.

"I was going to let him kill me so Lovette-"

"Don't give me that crap!" Conner roared, "I know you've got way to much fight in you to just give up and let someone you hate win! You keep saying you're nothing like him, you have nothing to do with him, that you hate him and want to kill him, but it's all a lie!"

I stepped back, appalled "It is not a-"

"Don't lie to me." He hissed out. "You are just like him!"

"No." I said, shaking my head. "I am _nothing _like him."

"He can't be his own man to save his life." Conner hissed, "Always going after Logan and trying to prove he's better. You're the same way! Can't be your own person, and just move on!"

His words cut like the sharpest of knives, strange, knives had stopped hurting me long ago. "Yes I can-"

"Then why can't you let yourself be happy! You know that until you do, you're. Just. Like. Him!" Conner screamed.

A dam, holding back everything, put up so long ago. **They told me not to scream. Screaming shows you have been defeated, it is the greatest dishonor.**

I have been defeated. So I screamed. "AH!"

Lord knows I screamed, I screamed so loud. I knew I had shattered my own ear drums, that's how loud I screamed. Conner grabbed his ears, sinking to his knees. The scream felt good, all the pent up emotions, betrayal, anger, shame, affection, hurt, depression, and ones I didn't even understand, flying out of my mouth.

Eventually, my lungs ran out of air, and I had to stop, taking air in with great gulps, until I could finally speak again. "You know why I don't try to be happy Conner? Why I don't take Lovette away from all of this and just live a happy life with her? Why I don't give in and try to have a happy ever after with you? Why I won't even let you really kiss me?"

I paused, taking in a deep, quivering breath, "Because every time I'm happy, that man ruins everything! You have no idea what he's done to me Conner. He infiltrated the X-mansion and beat the life out of me, in front of everyone! He gutted me right in the middle of the hallway!"

Conner's eyes widened, taking a step back.

"You know what's even better than that?" I asked sarcastically, but my tone was laced with hurt and betrayal.

"It was my first time being away from Logan, he was… in Hell for a while. Literally. So, I was hanging with Laura until things calmed down. We went to Madripor, with Gambit and Tyger Tiger." I shook my head, "Like idiots, we trusted him for literally **less **than five **minutes**, and with that time, he handed Laura over to a guy called Colcord who was trying to recreate the Weapon X project. He had tests done on her, cut her open with a chainsaw, all to create mini versions of us to use as soldiers."

I stopped for a moment, eyes narrowed slightly in remembrance as Conner stood up, facing me again. "And my father… My own father, my flesh and blood… He locked me up in some rat invested basement in Madripor to keep me out of the way. Of course, he made sure I couldn't go anywhere. To do that, he had to make sure that I wouldn't be fit to so much as move for hours… considering I can heal multiple fatal injuries within two minutes, it would have to be something that even He would consider over the top brutality."

I shook my head slowly, remembering the cruelty, the pain that was the worst I had ever, and probably will ever experience. "He shaved ever muscle fiber from my arms, legs, neck, face, hands, and feet. As if that wasn't enough, he pumped what was left of my body full of drugs that slowed my healing factor down."

Conner looked like he was going to throw up, and I'm pretty sure he was trying really hard not to empty his stomach right onto the floor.

"I sat there for nearly a full day before Gambit found me. Nearly didn't see my body lying there, covered with so many rats."

Conner gets even more pale, and wobbles a little.

"You gettin' the message?" I spat, "He didn't even have the decency to find a clean place. Rats, mindless rodents, feasting on my body, which by then, could have been a corpse."

Conner finally just sat down, sweating slightly, shaking his head. "That's why I'm not going to try to be happy Conner. Being happy and then being miserable hurts a lot more than just constantly being miserable."

"You don't have to stop being happy." Conner offered weakly.

"Conner, the only way to stop him from taking you from me, is to not have you." I said, walking away.

"That makes no sense!" He protested. "It isn't **fair**!"

"It makes perfect sense." I mumbled, walking to the front door/teleporter thing. "It's Daken."


	27. You'll Have To Answer To Me!

I grunted, trying to stagger under the heavy box, but found that it was just physically impossible. Conner grabbed it gently, lifting it from my grip.

"Thanks." I said emotionlessly.

He walked behind me as we followed Megan, Artemis, and Robin into Zatara's new room. He set the box down, and Megan turned to Zatara, "My room is right across the hall if you need _anything_."

Zatara nodded, "I just need… sometime alone."

We nodded, walking outside. I clenched my fists, sucking in a breath through my teeth. "That son of a… I'll kill him for this."

Conner put his hands on my shoulders, "Calm down, I know how you feel, but right now there's nothing you can do."

"Who are you to say I can't!" I hissed. "You don't know how I fell."

"Then tell me." He offered.

"Fine." I snapped. "I know what it's like to have the only parent you've ever had taken from you just like that! My mother was shot dead in front of me, at ten years old! I have nightmares about it every other night. I will never be able to forget that moment, I still remember the face of the man who shot her in cold blood."

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "We're the same now. Our roles are just reversed."

"What?" he asked.

"Me and Zatanna, both of us, we're the same now. One parent we are unable to remember, the other one killed in front of us." I explained. _Artemis too, but her mom is still alive. Crippled, caged, but still alive. Her father is just like mine in nearly every way possible. It's scary really who similar we are. Can't keep our mouth shut, major Daddy problems, and now we're here._

I sighed, realizing what I was going to have to do now. From now on, no one hurts Zatanna, or Artemis. From now on, anyone who does, or tries to, is one more throat to slash, one more heart to stab, one more spine to snap. From now on, they're mine.

Someone cleared their throat, and I turned, to see Laura standing there. I raised an eyebrow, "Laura? What are you doing here?"

She shrugged, "Logan was worried about you. Thought you might have picked up some baggage. Apparently he was right."

"He was wrong." I said quickly. "I am fine, and he needs to stop hovering."

She shrugged, "Logan told me to stay for awhile."

"Logan needs to back off." I mumbled.

"Tell that to him." She said. "You're stuck with me for the week."

I groaned, "Fine."

Conner cleared his throat. I sighed, "Conner, Laura. Laura, Conner."

Laura nodded to Conner, who turned to me, "You mean…"

"Yeah Conner, the other resident clone." I said.

Laura raised an eyebrow, and Conner held out his hand, "Clone of Superman."

Laura paused for a moment, before a small smile crept onto her face. She shook his hand, "Clone of Wolverine."

"I know, Mio talks about you a lot." He said.

"Really?" Laura asked.

"No." I snapped.

"Just last week you told me how much she wished she could hang with you." Robin said, appearing out of no where.

"**You don't talk about Laura much." Robin noted.**

"**Am I supposed to want to hang out with her? Sure. She's my coolest sister, but we're not **_**that **_**close of a family."**

I glared at him. "No I didn't."

Robin shrugged, "That's what it sounded like to me."

"I hate you so much."

"You live here in the cave, right?" Laura asked.

"No, I have an apartment." I said, "Solitude and all that."

I didn't mean to be a brat, or unwelcoming, but I just really hated to be babysat. Babysitting was my job now.

Laura nodded, and I shrugged, "Feel free to head over there now, or just hang here. I've got a class to teach with the resident Barbie."

I headed to the training room, Artemis was already there. "What kept you?"

"One of my sisters is here." I said, shrugging.

"If you wanna go hang with her, I can wait until tomorrow for this." Artemis offered.

"No problem Barbie, I already said hello."

"You just… said hello?" Artemis asked. "But she's your sister-"

"Yeah, I get it, you're _shocked _and a bit _repulsed _because I'm not all big sister worship and she's not all I love my little sister." I snapped. "I know that you've got daddy problems, and maybe that's the reason you're always nipping at my heels like a little pit-bull puppy hyped up on crack, because you think we're in the same boat, because you see me as what you think you'll become after you get through it. But you're wrong. I have a dead mother, shot right in front of me, and I could care less about any of my sisters."

Artemis' eyes widened, "You don't… mean that-"

"I do." I insisted. "You might think that you want to be like me Artemis, but in reality, you'll never be."

She stared at me in disbelief, betrayal, and hurt. I just glared at her, "You gonna cry now? Cause I'm not stabbing myself in the gut, okay? My suicidal streak is over, thank you very much."

Someone cleared their throat, and I turned to see Laura leaning against the wall, frowning at me. No big, when did she ever smile anyways?

"Mio, I talked to Batman, you've got the rest of the day off." She said coldly. Great, now she was gonna get snippy with me. Tell me I'm cruel, tell me that I need to shape up and be nicer to the little Barbie, not gonna happen.

"I didn't ask for it." I said, I wasn't going to give in that easily.

"You've got it of. Now you can either come willingly, or I can gut you and drag you out by your intestines." She threatened.

"Fine." I growled, following her out.

I sat shot gun in the pick up truck she had borrowed from Logan, glaring out my window.

"What are you doing Mio?" She asked.

"… Looking out the window." I said, unsure why she would ask that.

"What are you doing to those kids?" She asked, a little angrier.

"Teaching them." I said. "If you've got a problem, you can step up and do it."

"If you don't shape up, I will." She growled. "It won't be hard to convince Batman you aren't the right person for the job, and tell him I'd step in."

"You're unstable, more so than me." I said easily. "Artemis won't leave me alone, no matter how many times I tell her, she still keep talking to me, asking for more training from me specifically, and still thinks of me as some kind of… some kind of-"

"Mentor." She finished.

"Yeah." I mumbled.

"Like how you look at Logan."

"Ye- wait, no!" I protested.

"Logan talked to me about… certain things." She said carefully. She wasn't prosecuting me anymore, she was trying to gently sway me. Fat chance.

"What things?" I pressed.

"He says you might be going through some… depression, and he's worried about you."

"He was born worried." I retorted.

"He has a right to be." She insisted, "You're his only granddaughter."

"You're his only 'daughter' but he doesn't send Rogue or Rayne to check up on you." I snapped.

"I'm older, more experienced, and I'm not emotionally bashing children." She snapped. "You're still not going to listen to a word I say, are you?"

"Do I ever?" I retorted.

"I'm taking you to see a friend of mine." She said, shaking her head at my tone.

"Gambit?"

"No."

"Where is he anyway?" I asked.

"Waiting with that friend I told you about."

"Do I know her?"

"Not really, but you owe her your life." She said, pulling the car over, and getting out at a Subway.

I followed her in, frowning as I saw Gambit sitting across from a beautiful woman with brown eyes and black hair. Gambit and the woman were flirting shamelessly, and I felt the need to call for the priest.

Stuff like that didn't happen in Japan. Everything was traditional courtship and arranged marriages. I didn't agree with arranged marriages, but there weren't many in our small town. I had only known of one, and they had both wanted to be married to each other anyway.

Gambit stood up, smiling at me, "Petite! You've grow up quite a bit!"

"Hey Gambit." I said, nodding to him.

"Last time I saw ya, you were 'bout dat big." He said, gesturing with his right hand about half a foot below my current height.

"The last time you saw me where I could actually stand." I mumbled, remembering him carrying me over his shoulder to an ambulance Tyger Tiger had waiting. I had been in a wheel chair for a few days, yeah that was embarrassing…

"Is all wader under de bridge petite." He waved off. "You're looking good d'ough."

"You too." I nodded, then turned to the woman. She wasn't familiar at all, but if Remy knew her well enough, it was safe to say she was a criminal. Batman wouldn't approve. Who cared?

The woman nodded to me, "Mio, nice to finally meet you face to face. Well, I've seen you, but you've never really seen me."

"Name." I demanded.

"Rude." She said, a sly smirk sneaking onto her face.

"Don't care. Name." I ordered.

"Cheshire." She said, with a cold sense of pride.

"Artemis' sister who abandoned her to the mercy of a violent mad man. Leaving a ten year old girl to care for her mother who was in jail, and fend for herself." I accused.

"And you're the bastard child of Daken Akihiro." She countered. "Mass murderer, wanted by Hydra, and many other dirty dealing facilities, cold blooded killer turned Young Justice's lap dog, and probably the most important of all, Wolverine's prodigy."

"Den Mother." I corrected.

"What?"

"I'm their Den Mother, not lap dog." I explained. "Or babysitter when I'm feeling angry."

"Which is all the time?" She asked, curious.

I sat down across form her, "No, I only act angry all the time. I'm really only angry half the time."

"Which time is right now?" She asked.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"How you answer this next question." I said, glaring at her, "Why do you want to see me."

"I want to talk about Artemis." She said, not skipping a beat.

"If you're looking to try and take her away from Young Justice, or corrupt her in any way, then you'll be dead in the next ten minutes." I threatened.

"Oh, I have no doubt you could kill me." She said. "Ten minutes sounds like a bit of a stretch though."

"You haven't seen me trying." I countered.

I heard Gambit mumble to Laura, "Ya sure dis was a good idea?"

She never replied, so I just continued. "I'd start with the arms."

"I see." She said, "How deep?"

"I'd start out only cutting into them about a fourth of an inch, just to start you bleeding." I explained. "Then I'd go for a leg joint, knee, ankle, hip, any of them. You'd then be good as dead."

"And after the joint?" She asked.

"I'd go for your face." I answered.

"Why my face?"

"If you cut someone on the face, they can never forget it, and neither can anyone around them." I explained. "That's what I like best about torture, the face hacking."

She nodded, "Although that's interesting, I'm here to talk about Artemis."

"What do you want with her?" I asked.

She looked behind me, to Laura and Gambit, they took the hint and left. She turned to me, her expression unreadable.

"Despite being young, we all knew, even Dad knew, that Artemis, even before Mom had her accident-"

"It was no accident." I interrupted.

**I stuck my hand out form underneath Conner's motorcycle, "Wrench."**

**Artemis handed it to me slowly. I could smell her emotions easily, she wanted to talk. "Somethin' on your mind kid?"**

**She shrugged, "Kind of. Just… it's the anniversary of my Moms, uh… accident."**

**I raised an eyebrow, sitting up slowly, putting thoughts of fixing Conner's motorcycle to the side of my subconscious.**

"**What's wrong Barbie?" I asked.**

"… **My dad, you know him?" She asked.**

"**I clashed with him once." I said, nodding. "He's got some skill going for him, I'll give him that. If I didn't have a healing factor, he probably would have killed me about five times."**

**She rubbed the back of her neck, "Sorry."**

"**Don't apologize." I ordered.**

"**Oh, that's right, you don't like it when people apologize." She mumbled.**

"**Not that I don't like it." I said. "If someone really owes me one, you have no idea the extremes I go to get it. But if they don't, it really ticks me off when they say sorry."**

"**You ever said sorry to someone?" She asked.**

"**Only one."**

"**Who?" She asked, again with the questions?**

"**My mother." I then decided that story time was over, "Now, about your Dad?"**

"**Well, he crippled my mother the day she got out of jail." She whispered.**

**I stared at her in disbelief, and she continued, but I wish she hadn't. "I was right there…"**

**I hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, "Artemis, I know words can't really consol this kind of thing, but… trust me, I've been there, way down there, and I'm living proof, that it'll get better. Just… don't dwell."**

"**But… you dwell."**

"**That's why you shouldn't dwell."**

"Your father crippled her, right in front of Artemis." I said. Surprise flashed across her face. "You didn't know?"

"I knew he crippled her purposefully, but I didn't think that…"

"That he would force Artemis to watch." I finished.

"And that she would-"

"Tell me." I cut in once more.

"Tell you so quickly." She mended.

I raised an eyebrow, and she glared at me, as if she was tired of explaining something. "Will you give me a few minutes of your time, off the record?"

"No." I said.

"Of course you wont, not because of your moral code, or your ties to the Justice League, X-men, or Logan. It's because you don't like me. No one really likes me, you know why?"

"You annoy them?" I asked. I had always been the ranter, not the rantee. I can see how people don't like it now.

"Because I'm a screw up." She said "Always have been. My mother always made me walk Artemis to school first day every year. Every year, I'd walk her to the wrong school." She laughed happily, shaking her head, "Just because I wanted to!"

I put on an obvious fake smile, "Wow, that's a great story! Really! And I'm sure your just a horrible big sister, but I'm afraid you have me confused with somebody who gives a crap. And it's okay you don't need to be embraced about your mistake, happens all the time! For instance, my father's probably going to make the same mistake on his death bed."

"Listen Mio, no offence, I'm a big fan of the tough girl all on her own against the world doesn't care about anyone act, but let me tell you what I really think." She said, "I think you love the fact that these kids idolize you."

I put on a stony face, glaring at her and daring her to continue.

"Artemis was always the one in the family we knew, even Dad, she was going someplace. Good kid, smart kid, beautiful way of seeing the world, and the way it moved, and moving against it instead of with it. But somehow, you've found a way to beat that out of her, haven't you?" She accused.

I thought back to our talks, I had constantly criticized heroes, how saving people was pointless, they would die anyway, and how we as heroes, we were just trying to stall the inevitable. How we were fighting a battle we would never win.

"You've turned her into some kind of cynical person, who seems to despise what she does and think of it as a waste of time now." She said, glaring at me.

She took a deep breath, looking at her hands, folded perfectly on the table, then back up at me. "Mio, Artemis is never going to look up to me. Ever. But she hangs on your every word like your some kind of goddess, like you're her… big sister."

She laughed a little, shaking her head, then looked back up at me, "So I'm asking you… I'm telling you, take that responsibility seriously, stop being such a hard ass to her, other wise, you're gonna have to answer to me."

We held eye contact for a moment, before she stood up, "Good seeing you Mio."

I stood up as well, shaking her hand. "Good to see you as well Jade."

She left, and I didn't bother listening to she were she was going, I already knew. Out of town, and fast. Couldn't risk anyone seeing her, not close to Artemis. It would blow her reputation, no matter what excuse she used, right out the window.

I walked out of Subway, the guy at the counter giving me weird looks. Gambit raised an eyebrow at me, "What'd she want?"

I glared at him, "You didn't know what she wanted and you let her be alone with me? Cheshire, seriously?"

"She promised me she wouldn't kill ya, or try to." He said, trying to be innocent.

I then paused, remembering what Laura had said. I looked over at Laura, "What did you mean when you said I owed her my life?"

"She was the one who told Remy where you were in Madripor." She answered.

My eyes widened, "What was she doing in Madripor?"

"I don't know, and I didn't want to ask." She said.

"… How did she know where I was?"

"She said she was staying in a cheap hotel near the basement you were kept in, heard you screaming for hours. Figured you were dead. She was shocked when Daken left the hotel to join me a the facility, and nearly fainted when she heard you moaning. She said she went into the room, and saw you laying there, didn't know who you were, couldn't recognize your face, it was to mauled." She explained.

"Why did she just… leave me there?" I asked, anger billowing up inside of me. I was in indescribable pain in that room, and she just walked away.

Gambit put a hand on my shoulder, "She stood dere for awhile, to grossed out with de idea you was still alive, and in dat condition. Told me later dat she began to notice ya leg muscles were beginning to reattach themselves to ya legs. Knew den dat ya had ta be related to Logan, cause with ya arm muscles scarped off, she could se the claws laying in ya arm bones."

I nodded, "But… why didn't she try to help me?" At the state I was in, someone's voice would have sufficed, it would have helped, just a little. Reminded me that I could pull trough it, because I honestly thought I was going to die.

"Don't know, ya gotta rememba, she isn't a good guy, but she got morals petite." Gambit said gently.

I nodded, turning to Laura, "Can we… talk?"

She nodded, "I've been waiting for you to say that since I got here."


	28. Puddle

The McDonalds right down the road from my apartment was a nice place, relatively clean, some of it's food was descent, and it was the last day you could get a shamrock shake, so naturally, that was where me and Laura went.

"This is… weird for me." I admitted.

She nodded, "I do not know you that well either. The first time I met you, I only associated with you for an hour or so. Yet in that time, I had already formed a very strict opinion of you. Over the last few years, you've proved it to be completely false."

"What did you think of me?" I asked.

"I thought you were just like your father." She admitted. "You always had this look on your face, that made it seem like you were always thinking about everyone in a way that resembled…"

"Using them as pawns." I finished. "I was… at first. It's what I've been born to do you know. Manipulate people. True, I was also born to kill people, but you have no idea how much I wish killing was all I did."

She tilted her head to the side. "Explain."

"Killing is a natural part of life. No matter how humans or mutants claim to be superior to animals, it's basically the same thing as a wolf pack. Who ever has more power is the alpha." I sighed, "But manipulation, in my opinion, is worse than killing. When you kill someone, you recognize them as worthy of the time it takes to kill them. Manipulation, you're doing worse. You're treating them as a tool, a weapon. Like me and you were."

She nodded slowly, so I continued. "You can kill someone without truly betraying them, but manipulation, it's the worst thing you can do to a person. I know, I've done it time and time again. I can think about all the people I've killed and not feel much guilt, but to think of the people I treated as pawns, makes me want to cry."

She nodded again, "You're falling."

"Head first." I added.

"What troubles you the most, the fact you've done it, or the fact you liked it?" She asked.

"Neither." I said, sucking a mouthful out of my shamrock shake. "It's the fact that I don't think I can stop."

"You're still manipulating?" She asked, raising an accusing eyebrow.

I frowned, "No, and that's why I don't like you, X. You always assume the worst of me so quickly, like I'm some kind of time bomb that you need to constantly defuse."

"Logan doesn't treat you that way?" She questioned.

"Logan treats me like a person." I said. "He doesn't treat me like I haven't killed people, I hate it when people treat me that way, it's how Batman treats me, how most of the kids treat me. Logan treats me… like it wasn't a bad thing I killed those people, but if I kill anymore who don't deserve it, then it will be a bad thing."

She nodded, "I see. Now, what did you mean when you said you don't think you can stop?"

"I think I'm doing it subconsciously." I confessed. "Everyone on the team except Megan just keeps… gravitating to me. The only reason Megan hasn't is because I stole her man."

She raised an eyebrow, "The boy Jubilee keeps telling me about?"

"… Stupid vampire needs to keep her mouth shut." I mumbled.

"Conner Kent, right? The clone of Superman? Seems like… like a nice boy to me, so you two are… dating, right?" She questioned.

"No." I mumbled.

"He isn't interested in you?" She asked.

"He is, he's very interested, but I just… I'm not sure that I can… risk all that." I explained.

She nodded slowly, "I've recently spoken to Julian."

"You and hellion still got a thing?" I asked.

She looked down at the table, "No."

"… Oh. If it helps, I've been through a pretty nasty break up, and I can officially say, it gets better." I offered.

"I suppose there will be others. In time." She agreed.

"Yeah, there will be." I promised.

She nodded, "Why would you want to talk to me?"

"I just… I know me and you don't exactly… we aren't best friends, I know that much, and I can't really consider you a sister."

She nodded, "I can not think of you that way either."

"But I… I do think of you as… as family, close family." I said, sighing.

"I suppose me being your sister is an impossible thought." She amended. "Most consider me to be Logan's daughter, not his granddaughter."

I paused, before a grin broke out onto my face, "So, you're my aunt, huh?"

Her eyes widened, shocked at being referred to as an aunt.

"So Auntie Laura, did you remember to put on that cream you bought yesterday? you know how those crows feet creep up on you on the weekends."

She glared at me, "Don't make me put you in time out."

I laughed, "Whatever you say Auntie Laura."

"… That's not going to become your permanent nick name for me, is it?" She asked.

"Beats the last one I had for you." I said.

"What was my last one?" She asked.

"… Clone Girl." I mumbled.

"I take it you've given everybody on your new team a nick name?" She asked.

"Kid Flash, I call him speedy just cause it annoys him, I call Artemis Barbie, Megan I usually refer to her as Scared-Martian-Girl-In-A-So-Much-Bigger-World, really long, I know. Robin, I don't say it out loud, but I call him Bat-Boy in my head, mostly because that would have been the more logical name to go with. Conner, well, I haven't called him this out loud yet, but his is Puppy. You should see him when he's relaxed, he acts just like one." I said, nodding seriously. Nicknames, for me, were a necessity.

"And Aqualad?" She asked.

"Guppy."

"Of course." She said, rolling her eyes.

"So, guess I should get home and set up Lovette's room for you-"

"I'm leaving tonight." She said, standing up.

"I though Logan told you to stay and make sure I was doing alright?" I asked, not really sure what she was doing, Logan got pretty mad when people didn't do what he told them to do…

"You're doing more than fine." She explained, "And I am not going to keep treating you, if I may quote you for a moment, like some kind of time bomb that I need to constantly defuse."

I smirked, "Gee, if you weren't up for babysitting this little brat, why didn't you just call in your big brother to bail you out?"

She paused for a moment, and that's when I realized what I had said. Her 'big brother' was my dad…

"Uh… I don't know where that came from." I mumbled, losing the cocky look.

She hesitated, looking at me for a few minutes, before sitting back down. "When's the last time you saw your father?"

"When he kidnapped Lovette about a week ago. Last thing he said was that he'd leave her alone from now on, but next time he sees me, he's not gonna hold back." I mumbled.

She nodded, "And the time before that?"

"… Uh, I think the time before that was… um… the Injustice League?" I mumbled.

"You are lying." She accused.

I glared at her, "It's none of your business."

"Do not push away your family Mio." She ordered. "Tell me, what are you hiding?"

"… I saw him once after the Injustice League, but before Lovette's kidnapping." I admitted.

"Where?" She asked.

"A Starbucks, a few miles inland of the X-mansion." I said, not really worried about he revelation. If she had a problem with me talking with my father, no skin off of my nose, it's not like I went looking for him.

"And what did he say?" She asked.

"Not much." I admitted.

"What. Did. He. Say?" She ground out.

I frowned, "Not. Much."

She glared at me, "If Logan were asking you the same question, would you respond differently?"

"No." I snapped. "I'm telling the truth. He didn't say anything important, just taunted me a little. That's all that went on, he didn't try and get to do anything, and if he had I would have told Logan."

"No you wouldn't have." She argued. "You would have kept it secret, just as you tried to keep your ability to control pheromones a secret from him."

I snapped. "Because I wasn't ready to tell him! I know you don't understand emotion Laura, but try to understand that I do! And sometimes, emotions make you nervous about something that you might no think was a big deal! I had my reasons to keep my abilities to myself, so shove off!"

"Your reasons were that you were manipulating him, weren't you?" She accused. "You knew with him knowing of your pheromones, it would be harder, so you sought to keep it a secret!"

"No!" I shouted, good thing for me there were only three people left in McDonalds at this hour, manager and two employees. "I kept it a secret because I didn't want to admit there was one more way that I WAS JUST LIKE MY FATHER!"

She paused, and I stood up, tossing my empty shamrock shake into the trashcan next to our table. "Look X, you're 'father' is pretty much the best father anyone would ever want. My father is the worst father ever, worse then even Superman! Never thought I'd say that, but it's true. Admitting that no matter what I do, not matter who I kill, or where I go, there's still a little, well maybe not so little, piece of him that's tattooed forever, RIGHT ON MY FACE!"

"You're being overly dramatic-"

"Put yourself in my shoes." I commanded. "Having your father, the man who's supposed to love you, to cherish you about everything else in the world, show up every few months to beat you until you're literally a bloody pulp. Whether he's gutted you in the forest floor and left you in a pile of your own blood and entrails, or you in the school hallway and left you in a pile of your own blood and entrails right on top of your math homework you didn't do cause you hate Summers' class, with every staring at you because they either felt sorry for you, or were so disgusted with you for being that mans' **daughter**. His flesh and blood."

She was silent.

"Living in his shadow doesn't sound like fun anymore does it?" I asked.

"No one judges you because of that." She insisted.

"Everywhere I've gone, people have judged me because of that. I grew up in Japan, and everyone looked down on me, not because of my father, but because of my lack of one. I was the only bastard child in the village, and they let me know what they thought about kids like that. The Fantastic Four practically shoved me out the door as soon as the coast was clear cause they didn't want to deal with a 'teenage Daken'. That's the exact term Ben used. Johnny was the only one who didn't agree. That's only because he's got a crush on my dad!" I shivered, "God, that's so creepy."

She paused, then sighed, "I won't tell Logan."

"Yeah you will." I said, walking away from the table.

She called out to me before I got to the door, "You know, for a moment there, the way you were talking about your father, you really did sound like Daken. I swear, for a moment, he was standing there, instead of you."

I glared over my shoulder at her, "You tryin to add insult to injury?"

"No, I'm just saying, perhaps being like Daken is not as much of a curse as you think."

I sneered, "Tell me that when you've tried it."

I walked out, into the pouring rain, pulling the collar of my leather jacket tighter around me, the cold raindrops biting and pricking at my skin. I frowned, glaring down at a puddle gathering on the sidewalk. I leaned over it slightly, guarding it from rain drops long enough to see my reflection.

The minute I saw the reflection of my eyes, I bit down harshly onto my tongue, as if punishing myself for my genetics.

"**You're sure Logan?" Asked a female. She sounded British, and I could tell, she didn't take any crap from anybody. She'll be fun to play with.**

"**Yeah, I can handle the girl." People stood up, and the British woman spoke again.**

"**Very well Logan, but if she attacks one person, she'll either be kicked out of here, of I'll lock her in a cell in the sub basement, understood?" I could tell already I didn't like this lady. First of, she actually believed Logan might be able to control me, secondly, she actually thought a cell could contain me. Pathetic. Relax Mio, your time will come. Remember, wait, be patient, fool every one, and then kill 'em all.**

**They all walked out of the room, and most people stared at me, not in a friendly way. I mean in the 'this kid is trouble and I don't wanna put up with her' way. All because of whom my father was. Oh well, I guess the X-men were judgmental idiots too.**

**They all left, and a woman with red hair with a white streak at the front took Lovette to her room. The only ones left were me, and a man I assumed was Logan. Susan had told me about him, said he was my grandfather, my father's father. He was short, obviously not Japanese, and there was hardly any resemblance between us other than, judging by his scent, powers.**

"**Hey kid." He said, sitting down next to me.**

**I grunted, and looked away, to the door that I would love to just walk out of and never look back. These were good people, Lovette would be safe with them. There was no need for me to be here. I want to leave, to run away. That's what I do, I run.**

"**So, where you from?" Logan asked, trying to pull a civil response out of me.**

**I grimaced, could he just leave me alone already? Since he was obviously not Japanese, I was confident he couldn't speak it, and I hated speaking in English. **

"**Nippon. Ima sugu damatte watashi o hottoite." **_**Japan, now shut up and leave me alone.**_

**To my surprise, he actually chuckled, and said, "O kuchi no naka no kodomo o mite, watashi wa kiken no heya ni anata o tsuyoku hiku to, anata no kōbu made no yoi kikku o ataete, jōki de wa nai." **_**Watch your language kid, I'm not above hauling you into the danger room and giving you a good kick up the rear.**_

**My eyes widened a little, but I quickly composed myself, and turned to him, and, deciding to not give him any respect, I said, "Anata no akusento to tango no haichi ga sukoshi ofu ni natte imasu. Go jibun no gengo o hanasu koto o iku baai, migi no sore o hanasu." **_**Your accent and word placement is off a bit. If you're going to speak my language, speak it right.**_

**He gave me a warning look, and something about it made me bite my tongue. I could normally sense how strong some one was just by looking at them, like that Cyclops guy, I was defiantly better than him. The British girl, Frost I think, I would love to kill her, and it would be one of the easiest kills I've ever done. This guy, I knew he could take me down easily. He could take down Daken.**

**So, valuing my life, I changed the subject. I missed talking in Japanese. It was my native language, and I loved it. "Doko de nihongo o hanasu koto o manabimashita ka" **_**Where did you learn to speak Japanese?**_

**He smiled, seeming to be OK with the conversation. "Watashi wa Nippon ni sū-nen sunde ita, sore wa watashi ga o bāchan ni atta bashodesu." **_**I lived in Japan for a few years; it's where I met your Grandmother.**_

**I paused, staring at the ground, and he continued. "Doko de nihongo o manabimashita ka? Haidora wa, sore o anata ni oshieru ka?" **_**Where did you learn Japanese? Did Hydra teach it to you?**_

**I usually didn't talk about this. I hadn't talked about it with Mrs. Marvel even. But this guy, I liked this guy. It has nothing to do with the fact he's my grandfather, he's just different. He looked at me like I was actually human, and no one else but Lovette and my father did that. "Īe. Hydra wa watashi ga eigo o oshiete. Watashi wa Nippon de sodachi, sonogo, Hydra wa watashi no ie to suru tame ni yattekite... Karera wa ban ni watashi o rōdo sa rete sonogo, watashi no haha o koroshi, watashi o tsuresatta. Watashi wa irai, watashi no ie, watashi no fāmu, matawa Nippon o mite inai." **_**No. Hydra taught me English. I grew up in Japan, and then Hydra came over to my house and... they killed my mother. Then they loaded me into a van, and took me away. I haven't seen my house, my farm, or Japan since.**_

**He paused, taking this in, and then he continued, "Anata wa, Nippon o shite inai misu?" **_**You miss Japan, don't you?**_

**I nodded, crossing my arms, "Sore wa, amerika yori mo haruka nimashida."**_** It's much better than America.**_

**He nodded, and then said, "You have your dad's eyes." I turned away, glaring at the ground. If it had been anyone else, I would have sucker punched them. He then said, "They're your grandmother's eyes."**

**I paused, "Was she nice? My Grandmother I mean."**

**He chuckled, "Yeah, she was somethin' else. Quite the spitfire as I recall."**

**I nodded, "My mother was beautiful."**

"**So, what was my daughter in law like?" He asked innocently.**

**I paused, "She was pure Japanese, and she liked almost every one, unless they were mean to me. She was always smiling. Not a fake smile, a real smile, it made every one around her smile too. She never argued with anybody, she was a saint." My grimace turned to a light frown at the memories of her. She would hate to see me like this, only a shell of a human now days. You could just look into my eyes and see that I had left all humanity behind long ago.**

"**She sounds a lot like Itsu." He smiled, and ruffled my hair. "Come on, I'll show you around."**

I frowned at the puddle, kicking it harshly with the toe of my combat boot, and angrily storming away from it, towards my apartment.

Who did that puddle think it was? Showing me that my eyes were just like my fathers.


	29. Parking Lot

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on the great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live, It is all together fitting and proper that we do this." I said, looking around the classroom as the kids started to stare at me.

Not in an 'impressive' way, but more in an 'how the heck does she know that?' way.

"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, that struggled here, have consecrated it high above our poor power to add or detract." I continued.

Megan smiled at me in encouragement, while Conner just gave me the empty look he usually wore. He probably had it memorized too, but he hadn't offered to recite it when the teacher asked if anyone had already memorized it.

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced." I recited, I had to memorize this last year for school, guess Happy Harbor High was just a little bit behind compared to Xavier Institute.

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead she not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth." I finished.

"Very good." The teacher approved, gesturing for me to take my seat again. I walked to the back of the class, right hand corner desk. I can observe easily without _being _observed easily.

"Now, know it is only half the work really." He continued, "Understanding what the Gettysburg Address is about, what he really meant, that's the really brain teaser. Who wants to give it a try?"

He looked around the room, eyes resting on Conner, "How about you Kent?"

"I think it means… that he was trying to dedicate a field to them, and he's trying to praise them for their effort." He said, a bit more off-set than usual. Conner could tell you the facts easily, but when it came to his opinion, that's a bit trickier.

"That's what a lot of people think, however, it goes deeper than that. Anyone else?" he asked.

His eyes scanned the room, "Mio, since you know it so well, how about you?"

I paused, usually sitting in the back of the class meant you weren't called on unless you raised your hand.

"I think that he was trying to say… that even though he wanted to dedicate it to them, in a sense, he couldn't. He couldn't honor them any more than they had already honored themselves, by fighting for what they loved." I said slowly. "He was saying that he wasn't there to dedicate the field to them, he was there speak with the people still alive. Tell them that now they still had to fight, for the sake of the people who had already given their lives. That it was their job now."

He nodded, "You're right, and you've got a really great way of putting things. Ever consider the debate team?"

I paused, "Uh… the debate team?"

"They meet once a week on Friday an hour before school lets out for practice. They normally have a debate about once a month." He explained. "Interested?"

"… Vaguely." I said shrugging.

"Well, auditions in drama class after school tomorrow." He said, "Come if you want."

I shrugged, and the bell rang. I trudged out of class, grabbing my books from my locker, and sighing. I hated school, not because I didn't like learning, but because I just didn't have the energy for this anymore. Megan walked up to me, frowning, "Are you okay?"

"No." I said, slamming my locker shut. It didn't close if I didn't slam it, pretty bad locker.

"You wanna… skip class or something?" She asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "You, skipping class?"

"I saw… uh, saw it on TV." She explained. "It looked like harmless fun, am I wrong?"

"No, you're right." I soothed, "Just… didn't think you were the kind of girl to want to bail."

She shrugged, "You look like you need a break. Girl's night?"

I paused, I had been present at several girls nights before, with my adoptive sisters, and they were always complete chaos. To much chips and ice cream. The movies were always chick flicks, nothing that held interest for me whatsoever. However, while a girls night might not help me, but just might help Zatanna, even just a little.

"Sure. I'll bring the movies." I will put up with any cheap food they bring to this sleep over, but I will not tolerate watching any romance.

"Yay!" She said, thrilled we wouldn't be skipping class after all. "Soda and truth or dare!"

I am not going to play any games, no matter what they offer me in return. "Look Megan, I got sick ,threw up, and went home, okay?"

She nodded, "You… uh… want me to come-"

"Go uphold your perfect student record." I said, "Just make sure they know I'm sick and incapable of being at school."

I yanked my locker back open, and fumbled through the books, old tests, detention slips, and suspension warnings, to finally brush against the small piece of metal. I yanked out my key ring, with a grand total of three keys. My house key, key to my motorcycle, and finally the key to the fire/water proof chest in the back of my closet.

I kept important documents in there, and small items I didn't want to lose. I think there's few pictures, mostly of me, Logan, or Lovette. I used to keep the little wooden dragon I gave to Conner in there, when I wasn't carrying it around.

I walked out of the front doors, over to my motorcycle. I unlocked the helmet from the lock Beast had given to me for Christmas last year, tugging it on my head. Huh, Christmas was only about two months away. Had to think about what to get Lovette. Ugh, now that I have the team, I'm gonna have to get them all gifts too, on top of all my family, biological and adoptive.

All of them? My thoughts brushed against my father. Christmas was an American holiday, and although I was mostly Japanese, there was one fourth of American in there. Curse Logan for not being Japanese. My father took being a 'half-breed' a bit to far by naming himself mutt.

I shook my head, I should just be glad he didn't name me that. Not that he was the one who named me at all, wasn't there. If he was, would he have been the one to name me? What name would he have given me? Would I still have the same name- you know what? No! I am not going to spend time obsessing over what could have happened. I am not going to become what Conner is, little kid chasing after Daddies cape for approval.

My dad doesn't wear a cape though. Capes are for sissies. I paused, mounting my bike, Batman will kill me if I say that in front of him. While I'm on the subject, how many times have I died?

Let's see… I fell off the barn roof. Got thrown head first down a hill into a rock. That stupid old donkey trampled me once, took a hoof to the throat. Hydra killed me a lot, like, at least five times a week. Lets see, five times a week, for a whole year… hmm…

I took off out of the parking lot, driving towards Publix. I parked, walking up to the Red Box. I scrolled through a few, picking out The Woman in Black.

I sighed, taking the movie and walking towards where I parked, when a scent brushed my nose. I looked up, seeing someone, not only standing way to close to my bike, but leaning on it. I growled, realizing who it was.

I know he heard me, and I know he knew it was me. He stiffened at first, hearing me, but then relaxed, and I heard him chuckle. He wore white boot cut jeans with a long sleeved black shirt under a red sport coat. That's the way he always dressed, not the particular clothes he was wearing, but the style to them.

Logan had always dressed relaxed, casual. Laura tended to switch it up a lot, but it was normally really tight jeans and a nice t-shirt. Daken, he was always dressed up, kind of fancy, almost all the time. I wouldn't say it annoyed me, just made me think sometimes about why he did. Romulus, from what I've read, didn't seem to be the type to be a fashionista, and he certainly didn't inherit this habit from Logan. Itsu, maybe that was the answer, but I've never met her so I can't make that call.

A woman in a blue sundress passed him, smiling and look at him out of the corner of her eye. He nodded to her, and she suppressed a giggle, waving in a flirty manner. He chuckled, and I knew what he was thinking. He wasn't interested in her, not in the way she was thinking anyway.

Why would someone put affection towards someone like that? Why would they commit to someone who had o interest, someone who would kill them just for a laugh? That's what he would do, probably what he was restraining himself from. I know the signs, tense muscles, biting the inside of your cheek, the twitch of the left ankle. I know that's what these slight movements signify because it's what I do. Behavior is genetic, and I could be angry about it, I could deny every fact of similarity between us, but I won't.

I growl again, wishing that that simple act would scare him off, but it doesn't. I know it doesn't. I've lost count of all the times I've growled at him in anger or frustration, but all this noise does it let him know I'm angry, but he already knows that. Why do I fall back into this action constantly? Is it nothing but human nature, retreating to simplicity? It is a habit developed which can be easily broken? Or is this merely the animal that everyone in my family has, resorting to the instinct of warning before attacking?

I approach him slowly, this was the last thing I wanted to deal with today, but at the same time, it's just what I need. A break away from the cycle my life has become over these last few weeks. School, den mother, home, sleep. Day after day. Even weekends weren't holding an relief for me, or spring break.

"Get off my bike." I ordered.

He turned around, pretending to be surprised, as if I had appeared out of nowhere. He smiled, coming out of his fake façade and throwing his arms open, gesturing for a hug. "Mio!"

I glare at him, "Leave me alone."

We both know that's not what I want, I want a fight, a struggle, action. He just smirks, dropping his arms and pretending to be hurt. "No hug for Daddy?"

"For the umpteenth time, I do not consider you my father." I stressed. It's true that I don't. he is nothing like the stereotypical father, but then again, hardly anyone was these days.

"How long you gonna keep holing onto that branch?" He asked.

"I'm not holding onto a branch, I'm stating fact. You've done nothing remotely fatherly to me my entire life. You've scared me for life, both figuratively and literally." I reminded, gesturing to my stomach. For a moment, I see guilt cross his features, before the mask is back on.

He chuckles, "I was pretty surprised you survived that actually. First time I gutted you, I knew you would make it-"

"You gut me in the forest floor." I reminded him. "I had to tell Lovette to run, you would have let her watch, and God only knows what you would have done to her when you were finished."

"Let her cry over your mangled body." He snapped, "I wouldn't hurt a four year old."

"You were going to let her watch as you ripped out my internal organs and let me bleed out on the forest floor." I snapped. "Yeah Daken, that's not harming her in any way at all. You're a freakin' **saint**!"

He gave me a look, "Watch your mouth."

"No." I snapped. "I'm tired of doing everything you tell me to do. I'm tired of being afraid of you. I'm tired of running."

"You haven't run form me in a long time." He said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"You've grown." He said quietly, I can't tell if that's the answer to the question, or he's just thinking out loud.

"One inch this year." I commented dryly, walking to the other side of my motorcycle. "What do you want?"

"To help you." He said, and that's what caught me off guard.

"I don't need help." I said, "I've got my own back covered."

"You're stuck." He disagreed. "You used to improve at quite honestly, an alarming rate. I was sure by now, you would have been so much stronger than myself, Logan, or Logan's little clone lab rat."

I paused, before something in my brain, clicked. Slid right into place, like gears in a clock. I launched myself at him, digging my claws into each shoulder, pinning each arm down with a foot, shoving down with all my weight, breaking his wrists. I wiggled my own wrists, blood seeping out of his shoulders and he grimaced, before smirking up at me, "There it is."

There's the anger he's been waiting for, the spring in my step that I've tried to shake off. "Don't you dare talk about my Aunt like that."

He laughed, "You consider her your Aunt? That clone?"

"Seems I've been getting attached to clones lately." I mumbled, before yanking out my claws and getting off of him.

"Yeah, Superman's little oops moment." Daken laughed, standing up, "Don't get attached to him."

"You have no right to tell me who to consider a friend." I sassed, scooping up the dropped movie and mounting my bike. "You hold no significance in my life."

He grabbed my arm, keeping me from leaving, from driving as far as I could to get away from him. "I'm your father."

"In genes only." I countered. "If you name one thing you've done for me in my life, one thing at all, that I can consider fatherly with no strings attached, something you did without a double reason in mind, then I'll take it all back. I'll admit you're my father, and I'll even start calling you that. I'll never say a negative thing about you."

He paused, not saying anything.

"Go on, prove me wrong." I ordered.

Silence.

"That's what I thought." I said, grabbing the clutch.

"Let them go." He ordered.

"What?"

"Everyone you care about." He demanded. "Let them **all **go. You will never get stronger if you're tied down."

I paused, cutting the ignition and shoving him away from the bike, getting off of it. "Okay, so what you're telling me is that I'll fight better if I'm not fighting for anything? That I'll be better if I grow up to be as unfeeling as you, a hollow shell of a man?"

"The more you care, the more you risk-"

"Then that makes you a coward." I interjected. "But I'm not going down like that. I'm not going to be remembered like you, someone who couldn't let go."

He shook his head, "You can't avoid it, you will be like me. No one with you, no one who cares."

"You're not that far gone!" I snapped. "You could still reform, you could be good if you wanted, there's still hope and you know it!"

He laughed, "Little girl wants to save her Daddy, isn't that cute."

I growled, and he laughed again, "So cute. And so much like me."

"I'm nothing like-"

He backhanded me harshly, "Do not lie to me!"

I grabbed my face, pausing, face tilted to the side for a moment, staring to my right in shock. He had hit before, but this felt… different. I slowly looked at him, holding the spot where he had hit me, left cheek bone, right below the eye.

"Look at yourself, take a good long look." He ordered. "Besides the physical appearance, which is evidence enough to condemn you to becoming me, you're just like me, manipulator. You've got everyone on that team wrapped around your finger, and you know it. Each and everyone one of them would lay down their lives for you, go to war for you. You've got them eating out of your hand, and I have to say, I'm very impressed, proud even."

He chuckled, shaking his head, "Chip off the old block."

"I'm not manipulating." I said firmly. "I'm not scheming, and I'd really prefer if they just left me alone."

He paused, raising an eyebrow, so I continued. "I'm not using pheromones, not controlling anybody. I don't have them eating out of my hand, you know why?"

He rolled his eyes, "Indulge me."

"Because I'd do the same for them." I said firmly. "Any of them. They're my family. Although that annoys me to no end in the area of Christmas shopping, it feels… good. I'm happy, and I'm not gonna let you screw it up for me."

He tilted his head to the side, as if curious about something, but he never asked whatever he was wondering.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to attend a ceremony as old as time itself." I mumbled.

He gave me a quizzical look, and I shrugged, "Megan called for a girls night."

He laughed, just threw his head back and laughed for awhile, and I drove off.

**DAKEN'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I smiled as she rode off, the laughter dying down to a chuckle. "Have fun cub."

She won't admit it, probably go to her grave denying it, but she's just like me, in nearly every way. I bit my lip a little, looking over my shoulder, to see the woman from earlier, smirking at me mischievously from a nice looking silver Ferrari.

She raised an eyebrow quizzically, and I shrugged to myself, walking over. Why not?

I climbed in shotgun, and she smiled, pulling out of the parking lot. "My place or yours?"

"Your's." I answered.

"Did you know that kid back there?" She asked.

"My daughter." I answered, not bothering to hide the slight pride in my voice. She wasn't around, I didn't have to watch what I said.

"Oh… you're not…?"

"I'm single." I answered.

She smiled suggestively, "Good."


	30. Pictures And Roses

Okay, admittedly, the movie was a little scary, but not **this **scary.

Zatanna was curled up in the corner of the couch, covering her face with a large cushion. Megan was whimpering behind the couch, biting at her nails. Artemis was sitting beside me, jumping every now and then, but other than that, not really showing much fear.

I sighed, "You guys want me to turn it off?"

"No!" Zatanna protested, "It's almost over anyway!"

Megan sobbed, "That poor little girl… why did she have to catch herself on fire?"

"I can think of worse ways to die." I mumbled. "I mean, fire, it's over fairly quick. Humans burn quite well."

"What about Martians?" Megan asked weakly.

"Don't know, how about you get me some matches and kerosene and we find out?" I asked.

"No thanks." She whispered.

I nodded, grunting. "Well then, you want to leave? I'll call you back when the movie's over."

She was silent for a moment, then spoke, "No, I wanna know how it ends."

"With a happily ever after, like all movies." I mumbled.

"You don't believe in happily ever after?" Zatanna asked.

"Never seen one, so I don't believe in them." I brushed away.

Artemis spoke up, "Shh! This is getting good!"

"Can someone toss the popcorn back here?" Megan asked.

I grunted, grabbing the popcorn and handing it over the back of the couch to her.

"Thank you." She whispered.

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever."

Soon as the movie ended, I smiled, "Wow! She killed the main character? That's awesome!"

"She killed that little boy?" Artemis mumbled, "That's just insane."

"She _is _insane." Zatanna noted.

Megan crawled out from behind the couch, "I'm never watching R rated movies again."

"The only movies I own are rated R." I smirked. "See you babies later, I'm going home."

"I thought we were having a slumber party!" Megan whined.

"Hell Hound does not do slumber parties." I said, "Besides, I'm a creature of habit."

"Meaning?" Zatanna piped up.

"_Meaning_, screw you guys, I'm going _home_." I said, walking out the door.

I drove home, walking into my bed room, and then cast a long glance at my closet, sighing. I walked into my closet, grabbing the chest at the back, and dragging it into the middle of the closet floor, taking my keys out of my pocket, and opening it carefully.

I smiled at the contents, pulling out one envelope of photos, and looking through them. Lovette's last birthday party. She had just turned four. She was smiling into the camera, lips and chin stained with orange icing, and fingers coated in ice cream that had once been cold, but was now warm and sticky.

I chuckled, flipping through them, before I came to one with me and Lovette together. Logan was taking the picture, and Lovette couldn't have been happier, anyone caught in the background was smiling, even Emma Frost grinned for the adorable little copper top. I wasn't even smirking.

I was just sitting there, glaring at the camera, looking like I'd rather die then grin, just for a few seconds, just to show Lovette that I cared, even just a little. I looked at the next one, me and Lovette sitting down at the table with birthday cake in front of us. Lovette was digging into hers, but I was glaring at mine with disdain, like it was a sick maniac that had just eaten a live puppy.

I looked through the rest from her birthday, but no others had me in them. I took a deep breath, knowing why I wasn't in any more pictures.

Because as soon as Lovette had turned around to open her first present, I had slipped out the back door, and run up to my room to hide out there for several hours. When Lovette had asked me, in tears later, why I had left her birthday party, I just shrugged her off, and said, "Didn't feel like staying."

It was only now that I realized how that sounded. That she wasn't worth staying for.

I sighed, putting that envelope back in the chest, and pulled out one picture, not in an envelope like the others, just laying there by itself.

I smiled carefully, holding it up to the light. A picture of the Dark Avengers, all standing out front of the base together, in costume. Lovette wasn't in the picture, she hadn't been part of the team and had refused to be in the picture because of that, I'm pretty sure Lovette was the one who took it, actually.

Back then, I hadn't be able to see the obvious. How Daken, standing three feet away from me, stood in a posture like he owned me. I hadn't seen it back then, but he had marked me, and quite obviously too. If only I hadn't been so blind.

The costume I had worn back then, was just black spandex from neckline to ankle, long black spandex sleeves, with dark orange combat boots, and dark orange gloves that nearly came up to my elbows. No mask. My blue eyes showed quite clearly in the picture, glaring at the camera lens.

I hadn't really noticed back then that although our costumes were nothing alike in shape and design, the colors were the same. Everyone else on the team had known it too, you could tell by the way they stood.

They knew, Daken had marked me, claimed me as his property, every aspect of their posture. They stood like I was off limits, no one was to approach me, I was taken. I shook my head at that, I am owned by no man.

Now that I think about it, not only was my costume a replica of his, but my civies too. Moonstone had gotten me clothes since all I had was a pair of leather pants, combat boots, and a leather muscle t-shirt. The clothes had been a requirement, even I knew a person needed more than one set of clothes to be clean.

Skinny jeans, converse, button up shirts, fashion vests, fashion ties, a fedora, really? How had I not picked up on things like this? The clothes had Daken written all over them. I'm beginning to question whether Moonstone was really the one who bought the clothes. I could picture Daken doing something like that, then making Moonstone lie that she had gotten them for me.

The memories kept coming, until I couldn't suppress them anymore.

**I frowned, fidgeting with the clip on tie as I glared into the mirror. Denim skinny jeans, a black button up shirt with sleeves that stopped at the elbows, white converse, and this stupid red tie that I can't get to stay straight to save my life.**

**Lovette giggled form the bed, "You look silly."**

**I glared at her, "Shut up, or I'll make you wear black."**

**She shut up, but couldn't keep her giggles suppressed.**

**I grunted, finally snapping it on properly. I nodded in satisfaction, turning to Lovette, "I still look silly?"**

**She frowned, thoughtful, "Nope." She finally concluded. "But I like your costume better."**

"**You should get one." I suggested.**

"**A costume?" She asked.**

"**Yeah, why not?"**

"**I can be a super hero too!" She sounded like she was being told that she could rule the whole universe.**

"**When you're twenty." I offered.**

"**Yay- hey wait a minute, you're only twelve!" She protested.**

"**I'm a government trained killing machine." I countered. "If you've killed a couple hundred people I'll reconsider the age limit."**

"**Hmm… how about I just kill ants?" She asked.**

"**Kill one million ants and we'll see where we should go from there." I said, sitting down next to her on my bed.**

**The door opened, and Moonstone walked in, then nodded, satisfied. "They fit you good."**

**I shrugged, "Yeah I guess. Why do I have to wear a tie?"**

**She paused for a moment, "Just part of the outfit. For looks, you know."**

"**Not really, but whatever. American customs and all that." I mumbled, staring down at my white converse. Why one Earth would you make shoes white? They'll just get covered in dirt and become filthy.**

**Lovette jumped down from the bed, "I gotta go kill ants now! Bye Moonstone!"**

**Moonstone nodded, smiling as Lovette ran out of the room. She gave me a fake smile, masking an odd look, before leaving.**

I shook my head at the memory, I'm surprised the sicko didn't make me get a mohawk.

Now I know why it was three weeks before Venom, who generally couldn't keep his mouth shut, finally talked to me.

**I frowned at the television, trying to figure out why the three stooges were considered funny.**

**Venom laughed, shaking his head in amusement, "You ever watch these clowns before kid?"**

**I was surprised, he had never spoken to me before. "No."**

"**Legends of their time, funniest people that were alive." He said.**

"**They are not even poking each others eyes." I said.**

"**Observant." Said Daken, appearing out of seemingly no where.**

**Venom jumped, but I showed no sign of shock. Daken continued, "Anything else you see?"**

"**When they grab the nose, they do not grab on tight, the grip is very loose." I answered.**

"**Good." Daken approved.**

**Venom raised an eyebrow, at least I think he did. "Are you giving her a pop quiz about the three stooges? Seriously?"**

**Daken shrugged, not bothering to answer, "Mio, training right before lunch today. You don't eat until you give me a fatal wound."**

**He left, and Venom shook his head, "Now that's just cruel."**

**He handed me a candy bar, "Don't tell him I gave it to you."**

**I took it carefully, raising an eyebrow at him, "Why?"**

"**In case you get hungry." He smirked, "Great way to give him the finger, huh?"**

"**The finger?"**

"… **Forget I said anything."**

I sighed, putting the picture away, and felt my hands brush against something else. I looked in, seeing a rose that had been dead for a long time, on top of a shoe box. Might was well. A trip down memory lane always had to be thorough.

I took it out, opening it up. A handful of pictures, of my with a brown haired, green eyed boy. A sprinkle of freckles danced across the bridge of his nose, as his carefree, boyish smile spread across his lips.

A picnic at the park, in the middle of August, on a hot sunny day.

I smiled back at the picture, suddenly reliving all those moments with him. He made me feel like I was perfect, flawless.

His lips, always so soft, pressed against mine with his incredibly soft hands would cup my cheek.

He would always smile as soon as the kiss ended, and always say something about how much he liked me, and how great a kisser I was, how he wanted to make me feel special. He always did make me feel special.

I went to the next picture, me and Jake, laying next to each other in the grass, I was sleeping, curled up next to him with my head on his chest. Lovette took to many pictures really, where did she even get all that film?

Me and Jake at a concert.

Me and Jake walking together at the park.

Me and Jake sitting on the edge of the fountain of youth at the mall.

Jake pushing me into the fountain or youth.

Me pulling Jake into the fountain of youth with me.

Me and Jake splashing each other while old people glared at us.

Me and Jake kissing each other while mall security turned the fountain off.

Mall security kicking us out of the mall, soaking wet.

"What happened between you too?" Asked a sudden voice.

I turned, to see Conner standing there. I didn't bother asking how he got into my apartment, he wouldn't give me a real answer.

I sighed, looking back at the pictures filled with sweet memories. "You fall for someone who acts like a dad, then you realize, you hate your dad."

"I know that's not it." Conner urged gently, kneeling next to me, and rubbing my shoulder gently with his hand.

I shrugged, "A lot of people still hate mutants Conner. I guess I should have made sure he wasn't one before I fell for him."

"He… hated mutants?"

"It's not that uncommon." I said. "He didn't just hate them, he was terrified of them. The minute he found out, he demanded to know what I could do. I told him, popped my claws, and then he ran away screaming something about me being a monster."

Conner pulled me into a gentle hug, "I'd never do that."

"Relationships suck." I spat. "Someone always gets hurt."

"I'd never hurt you." He mumbled. Poor kid, he was so bent on getting what he wanted.

"On purpose." I mended.

"**Never**." He swore.

"Conner, if my dad were to ever find out that you and me were… together, he would literally tear you into pieces." I explained. "He doesn't like it when I have friends, I don't know what he'd do if he found out I had a boyfriend."

"Did he kill Jake?"

"He never knew about Jake." I said.

"Then he doesn't have to know about me." Conner concluded.

"But I-" I stopped myself, starring into his eyes. Bluest ones I had ever seen, gave mine quite the run for their money.

"Doesn't matter." Conner mumbled, getting closer to my face. "I'm a living weapon, he can't take me."

Normally I would berate him, saying he would be no match for Daken, but I just didn't care. Screw the whole _can't be with him, I love him to much to put him in danger_ thing. I was tired of pushing my feelings for him to the bottom of my heart.

I grabbed his shoulders, pushing my lips up to meet his in a much needed and awaited kiss.

I could practically here him mentally shouting, _YES! FINALLY! The woman has finally let me win! MAJOR VICTORY! THANK YOU GOD FOR FINALLY LETTING THIS HAPPEN! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIIIIIIIIFE!_

He wrapped one arm around my waist, the other tangled into my hair.

I sighed into the kiss, grabbing his shoulders tighter.

We finally pulled apart, gasping for breath slightly.

He smiled down at me, "Well, it's about time."

"Oh shut up." I snapped.

"Fine." Conner said, standing up, "I've got to head back to mount justice anyway."

I bit my lip, "You don't have to."

He raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You could crash here for the night… if you wanted." I mumbled.

He smiled, "A kiss and a sleep over? This really is a big win for me."

"Keep talking like that and you'll be sleeping on the couch."

"Yes Ma'am." He said, pulling me into another kiss.

Curse that alien.


	31. Donna And Daken Sort Of

I never really understood the purpose, liked or disliked, the term of a morning after. I didn't know if a morning after was a term just used if there had been naughty things going on, or if it just meant you had spent the night together. Please tell me it was the first option.

Don't start thinking we did anything bad, honestly, we just went to sleep right away. Okay we kissed a little first, but it wasn't my fault, he made me! Damn that alien!

I groaned at little as the sunlight from my window hit my eyelids, and Conner's arms tightened around my waist.

"Stop movin." He slurred sleepily. Did he think we were just gonna lay in bed all day?

"No." I said, wiggling out of his hold.

He groaned, turning over in his sleep, and I looked over at the digital clock on my nightstand. "What the- it's already seven in the morning!"

I quickly shot out of bed, grabbing my costume from the closet, and changing in the bathroom, while Conner pulled a pillow over his head. I walked out of the bathroom, leaving my mask on the counter, and was about to drag Conner out of the bed when my phone rang.

_I got a pocket got a pocket full of sunshine-_

I answered it quickly, "What Megan?"

"Conner's not here! I've looked everywhere, at school, even, but he's just not here! I don't know where he is, it's not like him to just-"

"MEGAN!" I screamed.

"Yes?" She squeaked.

"Dear Lord Megan, I know you don't have to breath air, but seriously? Take a deep breath." I ordered. "Conner's right here, he's fine."

"He… he spent the night at your house?" She asked timidly, whispering, "With you?"

"Megan, that's not… it's not like we had… it's complicated." I mumbled, rubbing my forehead, "We'll be over soon, okay?"

She was silent, and I sighed, "Megan, I… I've gotta get ready." I hung up, shaking my head. "Perfect."

"What?" Conner asked, sitting up, a little more awake now.

"Conner, did you ever make it clear to Megan that you weren't interested?" I asked, glaring at him.

"… Define clear."

"Ugh!" I threw my hands up into the air, "Seriously? Great Conner, now I have to worry about Megan sending the entire Martian race for me!"

The doorbell rang, and I stood up, growling, "Now I've got to scare off some Jehovah Witnesses! Great morning!"

I stomped to the front door, flinging it open, and my eyes snapped to the blonde woman in front of me.

"What!" I screamed, the veins in my neck bulging and I was trying to pop her head open by glaring just right. "It's seven in the morning you dumb blonde! I have to get up every morning, every day of the week at FIVE IN THE MORNING! I couldn't sleep in just once, COULD I!"

She glared right back at me, crossing her arms, "Done yet?"

I took a deep breath, "Yep."

"Good." She said. "Does this belong to you?" She gestured down next to her, where a little boy stood.

My heart stopped the minute I laid eyes on him. Couldn't be more than five years old, stood about up to my waist, black poof of hair on his head that fell into a mohawk, wearing a light pink button up shirt that didn't fully conceal the dragon tribal tattoo running up his arm.

He smiled up at me, an innocent little boy smile, that instantly made me want to scream in complete and utter terror. It was so wrong, it should be impossible for him to smile like that, just physically and morally impossible. Daken Howlett never smiled so innocently.

But there was no way this could be Daken Howlett, not the one I know. He's to young, to happy, and way to small.

There's only two logical explanations for this. One: a time rift opened and a Daken Howlett from a very, very, very, very long time ago is now in our present time. Two: my idiotic father went and had himself another illegitimate child.

I looked back up at the woman, "Nope, sorry."

I tried to slam the door, but the woman quickly shoved her foot in the path of the door. I cursed loudly, and Conner came into the room, "What's going on?"

"Nothing." I said quickly, stomping on the woman's toe. She cursed and I tried to push the door shut further. "Conner, you mind if we take the window route to work?"

"Who's at the door?" He asked, walking over to me.

I groaned, opening the door again, and the woman glared at me again. "Can we come in?" She asked. "I don't know if we're being watched."

I sighed. "Fine."

I opened the door, and the woman quickly entered, the boy following.

She sat down on the couch, the boy immediately running off somewhere in the apartment. "Sorry if this was a bad time." She said, but I know she doesn't mean it. She needs help, and she doesn't care if I'm having brain cancer surgery today, she's not going to take no for an answer.

She continued, and I sat down in an armchair across from her, Conner standing next to me. "My name is Donna Kiel, I'm an FBI agent from Los Angeles. Your father, Daken Akihiro-"

"Howlett." I interjected. "I have no idea what he's told you, but Akihiro was a name given to him when he was adopted by a wealthy Japanese family a very long time ago. Howlett is his birth name."

She didn't care, "Whatever. As I was saying, we were hunting down a criminal together in Los Angeles, Roston was his name. I believe that he is responsible for a new drug, called HEAT. It's made form the blood of the pride, and he managed to get both me and Daken addicted to it."

"The blood pf the pride?" I asked. "That's some heavy stuff you're dealing with you know. It could really mess you up."

"It has." She confirmed. "I'm getting over it. While we were there, we tried to get help from a group of kid heroes called-"

"The Runaways." I finished. "I met them once."

"I know." She said, "They wouldn't shut up about you."

I smirked, "Chase still sore from the time I kicked him in his balls?"

She rolled her eyes, then went serious, "They said you were good, very good."

"They were right." I said. "I helped them out of a minor dilemma, killed a few people in the process, and that's why to this day Katrina still prays that I'm going to have my own entrails strung up on tree branches in town square surrounded by half starved street dogs."

Conner raised an eyebrow but Donna continued. "One of them, I forget her name, she used a magic staff of some sort to turn Daken into a child again."

My eyes widened, "That kid… that's Daken?"

Donna nodded, "Yes. He hardly spoke of you, but after hearing so much about you from the Runaways, I asked him about you once. All he said was that last he heard you were, and I quote, in some gay happy harbor high school prancing around with two aliens, a Flash, Bat-Boy, an Atlantean, and an archer like a bad high school musical rerun."

I stifled laughter, "Dear Daddy is so supportive. So, why bring him hear? I don't want him."

She fixed me in her gaze, "I'm trying to work out the disagreement we had with the Runaways and get them to change Daken back. You are the only relative I know of, and frankly I'm terrified about leaving the boy alone in Los Angeles, and having him with me while I'm reasoning with the Runaways will just cause strife. Watch him for me, and then I'll get him out of your hair."

I snorted. "I'd love to see you do that. Frankly the guy won't leave me alone. I know he hasn't told you much, but the guy shows up every few months to just kick the crap out of me cause he gets bored. You'll understand if I'm hesitant?"

She nodded slowly, "I figured your relationship with your father was sketchy at best. I have no idea what's wrong with your family and all the hatred each one of you feels towards your fathers."

I shrugged, "Something in the genes I guess, or maybe fate is just a douche bag."

She shook her head, "Just watch him for a few days."

"A five year old Dad? Me baby-sit said Dad? Really?" I asked. "He's going to try to kill me sometime during his stay, I'm going to get gutted by a five year old!"

"As far as I can tell, he's eight." She corrected.

"Wow." I mumbled. "Pops was a short kid too."

She shook her head, "I'll be back for him a in a few days. Now, on the off chance that she undoes the spell long distance and little Daken turns into normal Daken," She tossed me two little green pills. "Throw the HEAT into his mouth. That should shut him up for about an hour or two. If that doesn't work, cut his head off and cross your fingers."

I gave her a look, which then broke into a smirk "Wow, you sure we aren't related?"

She shook her head, "No, guess your Dad's just rubbed off on me."

I frowned for a moment, "Was there something between you two?"

She paused, standing up slowly, "Not enough to define."

I nodded, "Careful around him." I said sternly. "I understand you're a lot older than I am, you're FBI and you've dealt with psychopaths before, but Daken is not capable of love. If he was, do you think I would have turned out so royally screwed?"

"I know who and what I'm dealing with." She said firmly. "I'm not an idiot."

"I can see you're clever." I mended, "But, you still don't know him."

"And you do?" She challenged. "You said yourself the only time you see him-"

"Is when he's standing over me, drenched in my blood and looking down at me like I'm the most interesting plaything he has ever had." I said, standing up as well, "You never truly know what a person is capable of until they've gutted you for a laugh."

She nodded, "Don't care. Watch him. He has no memories of anything from before he was eight. For some reason, he can't understand English, which mean's you're going to have to explain to him why he's here because I can't speak Japanese at all."

I groaned, and then looked towards the kitchen, where Daken was looking out at us curiously. "Kodomo wa, anata ga makikoma renai yō ni suru hōhō o manabu toki ni bōju suru koto ga dekimasu." _Kid, you can eavesdrop when you learn how to not get caught._

His eyes brightened up noticeably, thrilled to hear a language he understood. "Watashi o yurushite, watashi wa tan'ni kyōmi ga atta. Anata no namae wa?" _Forgive me, I was merely curious. What is your name?_

"Mio." I answered, then turned back to Donna, "Get what you need done, I'll try not to kill him while your gone. It's tempting when he'd be so easy to kill."

She nodded, "Thanks for your time." She nodded a swift goodbye to Daken, and then left.

Conner turned to me, "Weird."

"Very." I agreed. "Look, you go to Mt Justice, and I'll stay here with Daken."

"Mio, suppose he turns back into, uh, normal Daken while you're here?" Conner asked, "Maybe you should just bring him to the base. Maybe the Runaways won't change him back, and then you can have Zatanna look him over and try to fix him."

"And when he does go back to normal have him know the interior layout of the cave?" I asked.

Conner shrugged, "Martian Manhunter could always erase his memories."

"True." I agreed, "Fine you head out there, and I'll be there soon."

He nodded, "Alright."

He leaned forward, kissing me on the cheek quickly, then leaving.

I turned back to Daken, who was standing there, smiling happily up at me, kind of reminding me of Lovette. I heard his stomach growl, and raised an eyebrow, "Kūfuku?" _Hungry?_

He nodded sheepishly. "Sono josei wa watashi ni kimyōna nanika o taberu tame ni shutoku shiyou to shimashita. Sore wa kimyōnaaji ga shimashita." _That lady tried to get me to eat something weird. It tasted odd._

I nodded, "Amerika no fāsutofūdo. Hijō ni yoi, sono kōsokude wa naku,." _American fast food. Its fast, but not very good._

I grabbed a leftover plate of curry udon from yesterday morning, warming it up and sitting it down in front of him. He ate slowly, politely, while I sat down across from him, trying to decide if I should tell Logan.

"Dakara, watashi wa shigoto ni ikanakya, to watashi wa anata ga watashitoisshoni kite iru to omoimasu." I said. _So, I've got to go to work, and I guess you're coming with me._

He nodded, smiling. "Daijōbuda to, watashi wa jissai ni wanna wa anata no shigoto ga nandearu ka o sanshō shite kudasai!" _That's okay, I really wanna see what your job is!_

I raised an eyebrow, "Riyū?" _Why?_

He shrugged, finishing off the curry. "Dona wa, to yoba reru monodearu to iimashita... Sūpāhīrō! Sore wa hontōdesuka?" _Donna said you were some kind of a… a superhero! Is that true?_

I frowned, "I thought you didn't speak English."

He raised an eyebrow, and I sighed, repeating the question in Japanese.

"Ā! Watashi wa, kanojo wa eigo no jisho ni nihongo o eru koto wa arimasen." _Oh, I don't! She got a Japanese to English dictionary._

I nodded, taking his plate and tossing it in the sink. "Retto' s wa, sonogo ni iku."_ Lets go then._

I took him outside, getting on my motorcycle, and gestured for him to climb on behind me. He hesitantly slipped on, arms clenched around my waist tightly.

I took off down the road, and Daken screamed bloody murder, letting go of my waist, trying to jump off of the motorcycle.

I grabbed his arm, pulling over to the side of the road, yanking him onto the ground, glaring at him, "Nani shite iru no? Baka no ikutsu ka no shurui?" _What are you doing? You some kind of idiot!_

He looked up at me with something I had never seen in his eyes, fear. He shook with fear, afraid of me. "Gomen'nasai." _I'm sorry._ He whimpered.

My eyes widened, and I let his arm go, taking a step back, "Ē to... Sore wa daijōbuda... Mōichido tobiorirumasen." _Uh… it's okay… just don't jump off again._

He looked nervously to the motorcycle, staring at it in fear, no, complete terror. "Shikashi... Sore ga kowai." _But… it's scary._

I bit my lip, Daken was afraid of my motorcycle? No! Daken owned a motorcycle! Daken taught me how to ride a motorcycle! Daken _worshipped _motorcycles!

I sighed, "Sore dakede wa mashin o it' t, anata o kizutsukeru tsumori wa arimasen." _It's not going to hurt you, it's just a machine._

He looked up at me with innocent childlike eyes. "Anata ga yakusoku?" _You promise?_

This was not happening. I was not doing this today. I was not babysitting my eight year old father, who was making me promise to keep him safe. "… Hai." _Yes._

He nodded, grabbing my hand and holding on tight as I put him in front of me this time, steering with one hand as I drove us to Mount Justice. I was going to need serious therapy after this. As if I didn't have enough psychological issues.

God help me when I have to explain this to Batman.


	32. My Name Is Akihiro

"You've got to be kidding me!" Robin protested.

"I don't like it either." I admitted, very glad Daken couldn't speak English. "But until the spell gets lifted, I'm stuck with him."

Wally shook his head, "And if he suddenly turned back to normal while he's still here? What do we do when there's an crazy immortal feral trying to cut our heads off!"

"Scream and run while I take care of him." I said, then tuned to Zatanna, "Do you think you can take a look at him? Try to reverse the spell?"

She shrugged, "I can give it a try at the very least."

I turned to Daken, who partially hid behind my leg, half frightened and half curious at these new people who spoke such an odd language. He wasn't stupid, he knew they were upset, probably knew they were upset about him.

"Zatanna wa anata o mite mimashou shiyou to shite iru, moshi anata no mite mi... Ē to... Anata no byōki ya sōdenai baai." _Zatanna is going to take a look at you, try to see if your... uh... if your sick or not._ How else was I supposed to explain it?

He looked perplexed. "Shikashi... Watashi wa mattaku byōkide wanai. Watashi wa nai nda to kakushin shite imasu." _But… I'm not sick at all. I'm sure I'm not._

I sighed, "Chōdo kanojo ga kakunin shimashou." _Just let her make sure._

He reluctantly nodded, and Zatanna put her hands out in front of her, focusing on him for a few minutes, until she shook her head dropping her hands and turning to me, "I can tell that there's a heavy magic aura swirling around him, but it's so complex, and it unfamiliar. Whoever did it used a magic instrument, and that's what's clouding it up."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, "So there's _nothing _you can do?"

She shrugged sadly, "I'm sorry."

There was a soft tug on the end of my shirt, and I looked down at Daken, raising an eyebrow. "Nanda?" _What?_

"Karera wa daredesu ka? O tomodachi?" _Who are they? Your friends?_ He questioned.

I nodded, "Hai." _Yes._

I motioned Zatanna forward, and she walked closer, a bit reluctantly, "Daken, Zatanna."

Zatanna smiled a little, offering her hand for a handshake. He looked at it oddly, and I gave Zatanna a glare, "Japanese."

"Oh!" She said, taking her hand back, and giving an awkward bow, which Daken quickly returned.

She smiled at Daken again, then turned to me, "How do I say, it's nice to meet you?"

"O ai dekite, ureshīdesu." I mumbled.

She quickly repeated what I said, and Daken beamed, quickly rattling something off in Japanese, and Zatanna gave me a quizzical look.

"He said its nice to meet you too, and that he thinks your pretty." I said.

"How do I say thank you?" She asked.

"Arigatō." I translated, and she nodded, turning to Daken.

"Arigato."

He nodded a little slowly, before reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a small book, thumbing through the pages before looking up excitedly. "Thank you!"

I kneeled down next to him, looking at the book, an English to Japanese dictionary. Donna must have given him the one she got.

He smiled up at me, "Watashi wa eigo o benkyō suru tsumoridesu!" _I'm going to learn English!_

"Watashi wa sore o miru koto ga dekimasu." _I can see that._

Batman suddenly entered, "Team, enter the-"

He stopped suddenly seeing Daken, and then he turned to me, the bat glare burning through his mask. "Explain."

Before anyone could speak Artemis suddenly interjected, "Apparently Daken had another child in secret, he was discovered late last night by The Avengers, and brought to Mio until Logan could be contacted."

Batman just kept glaring at me, then turned to Daken, "Anata no namae wa?"_ What's your name?_

Daken didn't hesitate for one moment in saying "Akihiro."

Batman paused, then just shrugged it off, "Just keep him out of trouble, and contact Logan as soon as possible."

I nodded, "Sure thing."

Note to self, let Artemis have the day off from training sometime in the per seeable future.

I turned to Conner as batman started to explain the teams new mission, something about a huge snow machine hovering over the world, and Wally delivering a heart to a little girl. "Look, I'm just gonna take him home, and meet up with you guys later."

Conner nodded, but Batman spoke up, "Hell Hound, you need to meet Wally at the hospital, I'd ask you to battle with us, but I can see you need to take care of Akihiro. So just sit this one out."

"Whatever." I said, "How am I getting there?"

"You remember an old friend of yours, Night Crawler?" Batman asked.

"Acquaintance better suit's the relationship." I corrected.

"He'll be your transport." Batman commanded. "Be standing right outside the cave, he'll pick you up in roughly an hour to transport you to the hospital where the girl is staying at. By the time Wally get's there, make sure everything is ready to go, no if's, maybe's, or risks. Am I understood?"

"Hundred percent." I agreed. "Am I clear for dismissal?"

"Yes." He agreed.

I took Daken's hand, leading him outside the cave, and sitting him down next to a tree. I took out my cell phone, sighing.

"I'm so doing def con 4 nonstop all weekend." Which is really just my version of _I'm so grounded_. Logan can be cruel.

He picked up a the first ring, "What?"

"Nice to hear form you as well." I said sarcastically. "Logan, what is the probability of magic having a reverse then pause button on the human aging process? From one to ten?"

There was a slight pause on the other end, before he growled in annoyance. "What did you do this time? I swear, if you've broken into another cursed tomb and unleashed another possessed mummy soul set on taking the souls of woman again-"

"I didn't do that!" I protested. "God, you nearly bring about the end of all female life once, and everyone has to make an example out of the occurrence!"

"He killed twenty eight woman." Logan pointed out.

"And I've apologized for this constantly." I snapped. "And this has nothing to do with a mummy!"

"What did you do then?" He asked.

"I didn't do anything, I'm cleaning up your idiotic sons mess, again!" I growled in frustration.

Daken looked up from a few sticks he was playing with, a bit wary of the hostile conversation.

"What did that punk do this time?" Logan snapped, and I heard him getting up, probably getting ready to come over here and kick the snot out of said illegitimate child and save my feral butt from what Daken was putting me through.

"That idiot just _had _to go to LA, and team up with some _FBI lady_, like a bad rerun of Law and Order, then tick off that group of _The Pride's children_, so that _stupid _girl with the magic staff turned him into an _eight year old_!" I complained.

There was a rather long pause, before Logan spoke, "What now?"

"Just send some magic person over here that can undo spells concerning age." I ordered, snapping the phone shut.

I turned to Daken, sighing, what was I supposed to do? Just treat him like I would Lovette I guess, should work at least until Logan sent some magician, sorcerer, or Voodoo lady to help out.

"Wana koinu to asobu?"_ Wanna play with a puppy?_

He nodded vigorously, and I raised two fingers to my lips, whistling sharply. Wolf came bounding around the corner, tongue flopping out, a doggish smirk on his face, and a playful look in his eyes.

Daken's eyes widened, and he jumped up, half in glee, half in fight. Why was he scared? This is Daken, Daken doesn't get scared of an overgrown puppy. It must be an act! He's not really a small child, he got the spell done himself, and he just looks like one! He did it to learn out secrets, he's playing me again, just like in Madripor!

Wolf trotted over to Daken, licking his face promptly. Daken giggled, jumping up and wrapping his tiny little arms around Wolf, hugging his neck.

Wolf seemed happy with this, and when Daken let go, he knelt down in front of Daken.

Daken seemed at loss for what wolf was doing, so I spoke up, "Kare wa anata ni kataguruma o ataetai to kangaete imasu Daken."_ He wants to give you a piggy back ride Daken._

Daken looked at me with a strange mixture of annoyance, hurt, and mistrust. He climbed on Wolf's back, seeming dejected slightly.

I frowned, "Nani ga warui nodeshou ka?" _What's wrong?_

He sighed, looking up from Wolf's back to look at me with sadness, "Naze anata wa watashi ga Daken to yobu nodesu ka? Watashi wa anata no tamede wa naku keii wa nani mo nainagara, watashi wa chōdo watashi ni au to watashi o shiru mae ni, mada anata o mitashite iru, anata wa watashi o karakatte, watashi o keibetsu." _Why do you call me Daken? I have just met you, yet before meeting me and knowing me, you make fun of me and scorn me, while I have nothing but respect for you._

My eyes widened, I had gotten so used to calling him Daken, scratch that, I had never called him anything but Daken, my whole life! I had never even acknowledged his other name, but I knew he had one. I bit my lower lip, giving a short bow of apology, "Watashi o yurushite, watashi wa shitsurei shite imasu, to handan suru ni wa, tōzen dochira mo. Watashitachi ga dekiru koto o negatte... Saisho kara yarinaoshi... Akihiro?" _Forgive me, I am being rude, and judgmental, neither of which you deserve. I hope that we can... start over... Akihiro?_

His eyes widened, in Japan the older never apologize to the younger. If there is a disagreement, the younger is expected to submit to the elder, reasoning that they are wiser, even if they only outage them by a week.

"No... Mochiron! To watashi wa yoi tomodachi ni nari eru koto o negatte imasu." _Of… of course! And I hope we get to be good friends._

I nodded, this was no longer Daken in my mind. Daken was my father. Daken doesn't giggle when he gets piggyback rides from wolves. Daken isn't terrified for his life whenever he rides, or sees, a motorcycle. This is Akihiro, and he's my little brother.

I smiled as Wolf stood up, Akihiro clutching onto the fur of his neck, a bit uncertain, scared about falling. I smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Otōto kara ochinai yō ni shite kudasai."

He stared at me, eyes wide, before breaking out onto a huge grin, which quickly turned into a squeal of delight as Wolf took of running, which Akihiro on his back.

LATER THAT DAY:

Wally carefully put the container that held the heart of the queen on the shelf, smiling to himself.

A voice suddenly came from nowhere, "What with the sword?"

Wally turned around to see Daken standing there, hands tightly holding his English and Japanese translation book, looking up with childhood innocence masked by curiosity.

Wally shrugged, "It's in my room, why, you want it?"

Daken thumbed through his book quickly, then looked up, shifting his feet sheepishly, "Yes please."

Wally nodded, disappearing then coming back in the blink of an eye, holding the sword he had gotten. "Here kid."

Daken took it gratefully, bowing in thanks, and running off, shouting for Mio. Probably wanted to show her his new toy.

Wally shook his head, "This is so weird."

WITH MIO:

"Logan, I'm telling you, if we can't fix it, then I can take care of him." I insisted.

Logan sighed, shaking his head slowly, "Kid, this is out of your league. Any minute he could turn back, and when he does-"

"I'll deal with it. Most likely he'll just rough me up then run back to LA with that pretty little blonde." I said. "I can o this Logan, I don't need your help with Akihiro."

"Daken?" Logan asked.

"His name is Akihiro." I stressed. "And while he's eight years old, that's what you'll call him. He's not an evil maniac anymore, he's a scared little eight year old boy and right now, he's staying here with me."

Logan sighed, shaking his head, "Just let me take him already! You're not going to keep him, he's not a stray puppy! He's dangerous, and he's not staying in a cave with a bunch of teenage kids."

"Then my apartment." I countered.

"And if he wakes up in the middle of the night, turns back to normal, and then tries to kill you?" Batman interjected.

"I fight, win, and then kick his sorry butt back with Donna, she can deal with the weirdo." I sketched out.

"You're going to send Daken back with a civilian?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, she'll be fine." I said, slipping into a high pitched prissy voice, "She's FBI."

Logan sighed, raising his hands in mock surrender, "Fine. You know what? I'm done trying to talk you out of stuff you know you can't do, and fights you know you can't win. You're on your own Mio."

He turned around, walking to the door, freezing when Akihiro ran into the room, holding Count Vertigo's sword/cane.

"Hen'na kami no shōnen ga kureta mono o mite!" _Look what the boy with funny hair gave me!_

Logan paused, his eyes widening. I knew what was wrong. He was seeing his son, happy and young, glowing with childish excitement. Okay, now I finally have to ask the question, am I dead? Is this some very weird kind of Heaven, no, Hell that I have to endure before going onto the physical torture chambers I'm very certain Hell has?

If so, then the devil has really lost his edge. This isn't torture, it's just weird.

Logan paused, as Akihiro looked up at him with curiosity, "Anata dare?" _Who are you?_

Logan bit his lip, before managing to get out just above a whisper, "Logan."

Akihiro smiled again, "Sore wa anata o mitasu tame ni hijō ni ureshīdesu! Watashinonamaeha Akihirodesu. Dono yō ni mio o shitte imasu ka? Anata mo hīrōdesu ka? Anata wa ōkina osoroshī kuro no otoko tomodachidesu ka?" _It's very nice to meet you! My name is Akihiro. How do you know Mio? Are you a hero too? Are you friends with the big scary black man?_

Logan paused for a moment, and I knew he couldn't help the amusement that crept onto his face and into his scent. Daken was an adorable little kid. "Anata wa Battoman no kotodesu ka?" _You mean Batman?_

Akihiro nodded, and Logan chuckled. "Watashi wa inchida kibun ni izon shite." _Depends on the mood I'm in._

I rolled my eyes. Yeah right Logan, you've always been friends with Batman. Your friendship with him is older than me.

Logan continued, "Mio wa watashi no magomusumedesu."_ Mio is my granddaughter._

Daken nodded, "Magomusume to shite kanojo o motsu koto wa ōkina meiyodearu hitsuyō ga arimasu." _Having her as a granddaughter must be a big honor._

Logan nodded, looking over at me out of the corner of his eye, "Sore ga arimasu." _It is._

Having to deal with me? An honor? I knew that wasn't true, it couldn't be. I'm a headache, an annoying kid who frequently screws up then has to call him to come fix it. This one wasn't my fault though, this was all on Daken! He's a grown man, he should know a lot better than to take drugs, even with his healing factor!

Akihiro turned to me, eyes glowing, "Ōkami wa dokodesu ka?" _Where is Wolf?_

I pointed down the hallway, and he took off, waving his cane sword around wildly.

"Kende wa jikkō sa remasen!" _Don't run with a sword!_ I warned, not wanting to deal with a screaming, bleeding, eight year old.

Logan turned back to me, and I smirked, "You're already in love with the adorable little Daken aren't you?"

He gave me a look, "Just don't do anything stupid kid."

"I don't make mistakes Logan!" I hissed, "I am not a child after all."

"Yes you are." He said, glaring at me, "And you'd do well to remember that."

He left, and I scoffed, "I don't need your help old man."


	33. Nightmares

I screamed as men ran into the house, men with guns. They shouted things in a language I didn't understand, but I could tell they weren't happy. My mother stood up from the breakfast table, shouting things in the same language they were speaking. I should have been suspicious, I had never heard my mother speak any language other than Japanese, or a little Chinese when arguing with a foreign merchant.

They ignored her, and one of the men, the one standing in front, shoved her to the side, as if she were an animal he didn't have time for.

"Haha!" _Mother!_ I screamed, jumping up, and backing away from the men.

Two other men grabbed my mother's arms, pulling her a few feet towards the far wall. The first man turned to me, and I slowly backed up, shaking slightly, not understanding this. What was going on? Who were these men?

The man looked down at me, and said something in the strange language. "Ostanovite plakatʹ!"

I winced at his angry tone, "Nandesuka? Watashi wa rikai shite inai?" _What? I don't understand._

They rushed at me, grabbing my arms, trying to drag me out the door. My mother screamed at them, begging them to leave me alone, to take her instead. They paid her no heed.

"Mama! Watashi o tasukete! Te kudasai!" _Mama! Help me! Please!_ I screamed, thrashing around and trying to get free. A ten year old's struggles don't amount much to two fully grown, very strong men.

A woman stepped foreword, smiling, and said something in the same language as the man.

"Nanda?" _what? _I asked weakly.

She smirked down at me, and asked, "Dekinai no wa anata ga eigo o hanasu?" _Can't you speak English?_

I glared daggers at her, "Watashi o baka ni yame nasai! Aku no josei dake de o makase kudasai!" _Stop taunting me! Leave us alone evil woman!_

She smirked more, and turned to the men who were trying to hold down my mother as she struggled to reach me. She snorted, and said "Anata ga jissai ni wa korera subete no hito o tatakau koto ga dekiru to omoimasu ka? Awarena, anata dake de futsū no ningen. Anata no musume-san wa betsu no mondai no entirleydesu." _You think you an fight all those men? Pathetic, your just a regular human, your daughter is a different matter entirely._

I struggled against the men as they tried to pull me into a big truck they had come out of.

"Mama!" _Mother!_

"Watashi wa mio o oshieta oboete iru! Zugatakai hōrudo!" _Remember what I taught you Mio! Hold your head high!_ She cried out to me.

The woman said something to the men holding my mother in the strange language, and then one of them let go of her, and took out his gun.

"Nai!" _No!_ I yelled, trying to break free of the men.

Mother just smiled at me, "Subete ga buji ni naru, watashi wa anata o aishite!" _Everything will be alright. I love you!_

The one with his gun pointed it at my mother, and then shot her. I heard that shot better than I had heard anything in my entire life. It wasn't like in the books I had read, where everything goes in slow motion as the hero of the story is thrust into the saddest part of his life. One second I saw him aim the gun, and as fast as lightning, the gun went off. The next second, my mother's head was covered with blood.

"Nai!" I screamed, jumping up in bed, screaming and thrashing out at the air in front of me.

I felt arms wrap around me, and I screamed trying to get free, until a voice made me stop, "Mio, stop! What's wrong?"

I shivered, looking over my shoulder at Conner. "Con-Conner?"

He nodded, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" I mumbled.

"What were you dreaming about?" He asked quietly, pulling me onto his lap, gathering the blankets around us both.

"Uh…" Conner always slept in black sweat pants, so this was a little distracting. "My mother…"

He paused, putting his hand on my shoulder, "You never told me about your mother."

"I… I don't wanna talk about this." I mumbled, suddenly, I heard little feet running down the hall, and to my room door.

Akihiro flung open the door, staring at me with wide, worried eyes, "Daijōbudesuka!" _Are you okay?_

I sighed, staring at the sight of the little boy in one of my old white work out shirts. He was so small the shirt came down to his knees like a dress. Give me a break, the only pajamas I had that would fit him were a pair of Lovette's that she left behind. Akihiro had refused to wear them, since they were pink with little kittens on them.

I understood completely.

"Watashi wa komakai Akihiro yo."_ I'm fine Akihiro._ I said.

He stood in my doorway, eyebrow raised, "Sonogo, naze anata wa himeiwoageru nodesu ka?" _Then why did you scream?_

I shrugged, "Akumu wa, sore ga subetedesu." _Nightmare, that's all._

He gave me a sympathetic look, slowly walking across the floor and hopping onto the bed, next to Conner. "Ni tsuite no anata no yume wa nanideshita ka?" _What was your dream about?_

I smiled at him sadly, "Watashi wa jissai ni sore ni tsuite hanashiau made kanjiru koto wa arimasen." _I don't really feel up for talking about it._

He frowned, pouting at being denied what he probably thought was a good story. Then he looked up at he, frowning, "You said Mother."

I raised an eyebrow, "Anata itsukara wa eigo o hanasemasu ka?" _Since when do you speak English?_

He smiled, "Watashi ga renshū shite kitaga, watashi wa migi no sore o iimashita ka?" _I've been practicing! Did I say it right?_

I nodded, smiling. "Hai." _Yes._

Conner raised his eyebrow, "Please teach this kid more English. You're both giving me a headache."

Me and Akihiro both turned to him, glaring. I was glaring because Conner was talking about a headache when I had just woken up from a dream that would have made him pee his kryptonian silk boxers. Akihiro was glaring, probably because he didn't like Conner to much. Don't know why.

Conner sighed, "Sorry." He tightened his arms around me in a hug. "Mio, you have to talk to me about things like this, really. I want to know if something's bothering you."

I shook my head, "It's just a nightmare Conner."

Akihiro suddenly flung his arms around me in a hug, and I smiled, ruffling his dark mohawk. "Anata wa kodomo o surīpu jōtai ni modotte shutoku suru hitsuyō ga arimasu." _You need to get back to sleep kid._

He looked up at me with pleading eyes, "Can I stay?"

I raised an eyebrow, and he attempted to continue his limited English. "Stay with you… sleep?"

"Why?" I asked, not sure if he could understand.

He sighed, giving up on English, much to Conner's disappointment. "Watashi wa, anata ga futatabi obiete shutoku suru hitsuyō wa arimasenshi, sono baka wa dono yō ni anata no hōyō o ataeru tame ni wa aidea o motte imasen. Anata no uesuto no mawari no kare wa hōyōde wa naku, anata no i." _I don't want you to get scared again, and that idiot has no idea how to give you a hug. He hugs around your waist, not your stomach._

I smirked, "E e, sonotame no riyū ga arimasu." _Yeah, there's a reason for that._

Daken just gave me a weird look, and I nodded, "Fain." _Fine._

He smiled brightly, burrowing under the covers.

Conner glared at me, "What did you just agree to?"

I rolled me eyes, squirming out of his hold, and burrowing under the covers with Akihiro, "Go to sleep Conner."

Conner sighed, slipping under the blankets, and wrapping his arms around my waist. I didn't miss the glare Akihiro shot Conner, or the glare Conner shot back. Brilliant.


	34. Rants Are Just My Thing

Logan walked into Mount Justice, in full costume, walking up to Batman, who was typing hastily away at the computer. "Ya wanted to see me bub?"

Batman looked over at his longtime friend, "Yes, it's about Mio."

Logan sighed, "Oh boy, what's the kid got herself into now?"

Batman paused, "Logan, let's get one thing clear right now. She's not a kid."

Logan paused, taking a deep breath, "I sometimes think she's not, but, every now and then that kid does something so dumb, I can't really accept her being an adult."

Batman nodded, understanding, "I understand she makes bad decisions sometimes, but she's really grown attached to Akihiro. I don't approve of her lying to me about it, but at the time, with me just about to announce a mission, I would have too."

Logan nodded, "That's what I'm worried about, she's getting attached to the little boy Daken used to be, what happens when he turns back into the man she hates? She's setting herself up to get kicked in the teeth."

Batman nodded, "She's not the only one, I saw how you looked at Akihiro, you nearly fell for it too. No matter how much you want to deny it, you'd do anything to get back your son, to start over with him."

"Who's denying?" Logan asked innocently. "I know that, Mio knows that, even Daken knows that, which is why I just can't bring myself to kill that little punk."

"That, and the fact Cyclops won't give you the maramusa blade."

"… Yeah." Logan admitted. "So, enough of this talk, what you bring me in for?"

Batman turned back to the computer, bringing up security footage.

It showed Conner and Mio sparing, going back an forth, until Mio tripped Conner, making him fall flat on his back. Conner groaned, and Mio helped him up, "Good boy Conner, you deserve a prize."

She grabbed his collar, pulling him into a kiss.

Logan growled, his claws popping out, and batman paused the video, "You didn't know about these two?"

"I know Super Ass's boy had a crush on her, but I didn't know that she actually…" Logan stumbled for words.

"They've been living together." Batman said. "But but let me assure you Logan, nothing inappropriate has gone on between the two at all."

"How do you know?" Logan asked.

"I put security cameras in her apartment." Batman said.

"… Of course you did." Logan said, retracting his claws.

Batman turned back to the screen, "Give the boy a chance Logan, his care for Mio is genuine."

"I hate to repeat myself, but how do you know?" Logan asked, crossing his arms.

"Keep watching." Batman made the video play again, and Logan wrinkled his nose, watching the kiss go on, until Conner tightened his grip on Mio's forearm, and Mio let out a yelp. Conner pulled back, looking down at Mio's forearm, seeing big, hand shaped bruises.

Logan's eyes narrowed when he realized something, the bruises weren't healing. Conner noticed too, and he dropped Mio's forearm, taking a step back from her, "Who are you?"

Mio looked terrified, and she took a step back, morphing into Megan. Conner growled, "Megan!?"

"I'm sorry Conner, I just-"

"If you ever tell Mio about this, I promise you, you'll regret it." Conner growled, shoving her to the side as he walked away. He stopped at the door, looking over his shoulder, "Look Megan, I'm sorry, okay? I know I kind of, led you on for awhile, and that was my fault. I need you to understand Megan, I _love _Mio, okay? Yes, I like you, but that's all. We're over, I'm sorry, but we're over."

He turned, walking away.

Logan sighed, as the video ended, "You showed Mio yet?"

"No." Batman said, "From what I know of her, she'd kill Megan."

Logan nodded, "Good call."

**LATER THAT DAY, WITH MIO IN THE GARAGE:**

"So, Megan's really a White Martian?" I asked, laying under my motorcycle, wrench in hand.

Artemis nodded, "Yeah."

"And she stole her form from a crappy old TV show called Hello, Megan?" I shook my head, sighing, "Man, even could be more creative than that, and I have almost no imagination."

Artemis snorted, "You know, you don't have to depend on me to tell you everything, you could actually-"

"Read the mission reports? No thank you!" I said, sitting up, and putting the wrench away, before wiping off my grease covered hands. "I may be able to speak English easily now, but when it comes to reading, I'm still at fourth grade level."

Artemis' eyes widened, "Really?"

I gave her an emotionless look, "No one's perfect Barbie."

Artemis lowered her gaze, "Sorry."

I raised an eyebrow, "Something bothering you Barbie?"

Artemis sighed, "You remember Halloween?"

"You and Zatanna rushed off without radioing me for help, and helped a little ghost girl get revenge on her brother." I recalled.

Artemis flinched, "Yeah, sorry about that by the way."

"So what's bugging you?"

"That girl, I just can't understand how her own brother could kill her." She whispered. "I mean, my sister, do you think she would ever, she could ever…? I mean, or even my _dad_, I couldn't even picture _him _do that to me." She abrupt idly looked up, "I mean, I'm not scared or anything, I just-"

I sighed, cutting her off. "Look, I get it, I really do, you _have _to prove yourself, to _everyone_. I understand what that's like. I also know what it's like to have most of your family want you to do something you know is wrong. I know how it feels to have your own father manipulate you, whether he succeeds or not." I looked her straight in the eye, "But let me make one thing clear to you right now, you have _nothing _to prove to me."

Her eyes widened, "But I-"

"You are the _best _fighter I have _ever _trained." I explained. "You could be better than _Robin _one day, I mean it. You're that good. He might be better than you, more experienced, but you have _way _more of something even _more _important. You've got more _heart_."

She bit her lip, hugging her knees to her chest, "Heart isn't going to help me prove that… uh, forget it."

"Prove that your _nothing like him_?" I asked.

Her head shot up. "How did you-"

"I've said the same thing about myself over and over again." I stressed, "To Logan, to the Fantastic Four, to Batman, Superman, Scott Summers, Emma Snow, Storm, and pretty much every other X-man, including Jubilee, X-23, Rogue, Rayne, and, well, the sheer number of people is embarrassing actually." I smirked, then went serious, "And I'm living proof, people like us Artemis? We're _right _Barbie. We're nothing like them, at all."

Artemis paused for a moment, before launching herself at me in a hug. "Oh! Uh, Barbie?"

She pulled away, averting her eyes, "Sorry Mio, I know you're not into the whole, hug thing, but-"

I cut her off, hugging her gently, "It's okay to want a little comfort Artemis."

She nodded as I pulled away, looking down at me, "Thanks Mio."

"It's no problem." I said, "You remind me a lot of myself at your stage."

"Stage?"

"Yeah, you're at the, _I don't know if I can do this _stage."

She raised an eyebrow, "What's the next stage?"

I smirked, "I'll tell you when you get there. No rushing through it, you go one step at a time Barbie."

Akihiro rushed into the room, dressed in a black wife beater with a silver X-man symbol on the front. It used to be mine when I was a lot younger, so it was a little baggy on him, but not that bad. He also had on kaki cargo shorts, and black converse.

He ran right over to us, and gave Artemis a little bow before addressing me. "Mio! Look what Wally helped me make!"

I smiled down at the little boy in pride, his English had gotten a lot better, he was such a fast learner. "What is it?"

He held up a picture of him, with the sword Wally had given him, sitting on top of wolf, holding the sword above his head, like he was about to charge into battle. "You like it?"

I nodded, smiling, "I love it, you're good at drawing Akihiro."

He lit up, like a little light bulb, hugging my leg, "Thank you."

Artemis smiled, "That's one cute kid. Pity he's gonna turn into-"

"BARBIE!" I shouted, quickly covering Akihiro's ears.

Her eyes widened, "Oh, sorry."

I shook my head, "Forget about it."

I let go of Akihiro's ears, and he looked up at me. "What did she say?"

I sighed, then smiled, "How about you forget about what just happened, and we cant get chow mien for dinner tonight?"

He brightened, chow mien was his favorite food. "Sure!"

Logan walked into the room, and gave Akihiro a brief nod, before looking at me, then Artemis, "Mind if I talk to Mio alone?"

She nodded, leaving.

I raised my eyebrow, "What's going on Logan?"

He just looked at me, "We found _her_."

My eyes widened, "_Her_?"

He nodded, and I panicked, "Where?"

"Africa." Logan said, "She wants to see you. Soon."

"I… I'll think about it." I mumbled.

"Give her a chance kid." Logan said, "I know you're still sore about what she did, but she was scared. Fight or flight, had to chose one."

I glared at him, "Yeah, she chose the wrong one."

Logan sighed, "Need I remind you all the bad mistakes you've made? The mummy bent on destroying all women? Dark Avengers? Or even better, Madripor?"

"Okay!" I snapped, "And Dark Avengers doesn't count, I was still all… assassin bent on death, and Dark Avengers let me kill and not get arrested."

Logan sighed, "Fine, but the Mummy?"

"Okay, how was I supposed to know touching that huge ruby was going to awaken something like that!"

"I told you not to touch anything!"

"You know very well I can't be trusted not to touch anything in a tomb filled with really cool looking stuff!"

"Mio?' Conner asked, walking in.

My and Logan's head's snapped towards him, both shouting, "WHAT!?"

He stood there, a bit awkward, "Uh, just wondering if you were ready to go home."

Akihiro glared up at Conner, "She'll tell you when she's ready."

Conner glared back down at him, taking a step towards him, "You little-"

"Conner!" I snapped, "You don't get to threaten him."

Conner growled, crossing his arms, and glaring at the ground. I turned to Akihiro, "And you, you've got to stop being to rude. Conner is your superior, and you've got to obey him _and _be polite to him, do you understand?"

He paused, "My English must not be very good."

I groaned, "Just apologize to Conner."

Akihiro groaned, turning to Conner, "Sorry you're impatient and rude to women."

"What!?" Conner snapped, "I wasn't being rude-"

"Both of you shut up!" I screeched. I glared down at Akihiro, "You listen here, I've let this go on to far, and that's my fault. I understand you don't like Conner, it's fine. I didn't like him to much at first either."

"What?" Conner asked, shocked.

"Oh shut up, you didn't like me either." I turned back to Akihiro, "But just because you don't like him doesn't mean you can be that rude. I won't make you apologize, but next time you show disrespect, you will be punished. I've been far to lenient with you."

Akihiro looked shocked, I had never put my foot down with him, but I was tired of this. He finally nodded, "Yes Mio."

I turned back to Logan, "Where is she now?"

"At Utopia X." He said, "But she doesn't wanna stay there much longer, says there's to many memories."

"I don't blame her." I mumbled. "She run into Spencer yet?"

"Yeah, you'll never guess what happened." Logan said, "They're back together again."

My eyes widened, "Really?"

"Yeah, he got over the whole mutant thing." Logan took a little breath, as if debating whether to tell me something, "Spencer told me to tell you, Jake wants to see you again."

Conner looked shocked, and I was sure I looked the same. My answer was quick, "Good God in Heaven Logan, there are just so many ways for me to tell you this. No. Never. Not going to happen. Negative. No way Hose. No chance Lance. Nope. Uh uh. Not in a million years. I'd rather die. Nah eh. And my own personal favorite, I call it: Man Falling Off a Cliff, Noooooooooooooooooooo!" I said, slowly letting my gaze drift from the ceiling to the ground, before I said, "Pfft. Pancake of blood and flesh."

Logan rolled his eyes, "You rant to much."

"It's just my thing." I said, "You have bub and snikt, Robin has his whole breaking down the English language thing, Wally has science facts, Artemis has her constantly sarcastic bored aura, Megan is legitimately cheerful, Conner has the 'I hate monkeys' line, Kaldur talks prim and proper but not quite British, Batman has that batty glare of doom, Superman is the Mary Sue that no one seems to hate, Daken is the psycho who's just sane enough to know he's doing the wrong thing, Romulus is the old man who says he's from the cavemen days, Sabertooth is the annoying guy that shows up to beat the crap out of you on your birthday showing that cats aren't really afraid of dogs, I have my rants."

"They're annoying." Logan said, glaring down at me. "Kind of make me regret teaching you English. Stop doing it."

I cocked my head to the side, "Why on Earth would I stop it when I know how much it upsets you?"

Conner smirked, "It's like he doesn't know you at all."

I nodded, "Yep, let's go home boys. Akihiro, I don't care how much you hate being clean, you're going to take a bath tonight, _with _soap, and I mean it."

Akihiro sighed, "Okay."

**Ok guys, listen, a lot of your asked me to continue this story, so I did, I'm really busy with like, FOUR OTHER STORIES so if you want this to be continued anytime soon, REVIEW! Cause my other stories are a lot more popular, the probability of me finishing this, is very slim. IF YOU WANT IT REVIEW FOR IT!**


	35. This Is Politics

Wolverine sat down beside me as the League meeting started, I gave him a look out of the corner of my eyes, "I already hate this."

He shrugged, "There a lot more uptight than the X-men, but they get things done."

The most important League members sat around a U shaped table, and Aquaman stepped forward. "Our agenda is clear. What's at stake should not be underestimated."

"The decisions we make today will reverberate for years to come," Superman add.

"And influence whether or not the world continues to put their trust in the Justice League," Wonder Woman spoke.

"Don't take this meeting lightly," Batman ordered. "We have work to do."

I zoned out for a few moments, mostly wondering why on earth I was here, until I heard Captain Marvel exclaim, "You thought I was Kryptonian? Cool!" Captain Marvel beamed.

Wonder Woman placed her hand on Superman's arm, "Icon interests me, also. As does his protégé, Rocket. Athena knows the League could use a more female members."

"Agreed," Black Canary crossed her arms.

"Here, here!" Hawkwoman agreed.

Black Canary stood up, "Which is why I also nominate Hellhound for League membership. She's been taking care of Young Justice, and teaching them. Aside form one incident, we've had no problems with her."

"Logan kill me now." I ordered.

"That 'one incident' was her stabbing Red Arrow." Superman prompted.

"And I decline invitation!" I growled. "I'd rather die than run around with idiot who wear their underpants on the outside of their wardrobe."

"Subject of nomination refuses, motion is dropped." Superman said, crossing his arms.

Canary rolled her eyes, "Oh please, she could probably beat me in a sparing match, and she's participated in several league missions."

"Her background is sketchy and what we do know is a long history of violence and killing, similar to a serial killing monster with no remorse or moral!" Superman snapped. He looked over a time, "No offence."

"No, I'm with you on this." I agreed, "Not qualified for the League."

Canary dropped it.

**BACK AT MOUNT JUSTICE:**

Conner took a swift intake of air, hearing a painful voice in his ear, telling him where to go. He stood up, walking to the door, only to have Akihiro grab onto his leg. He glared down at him, "What?"

"I'm coming too." The kid demanded.

Conner's eyes widened, "You heard that?"

"Yes." Akihiro said, and then pointed into the kitchen, "Why didn't they?"

"Quiet!" Conner hissed, "And no, you aren't coming. I'm going alone, well, with Wolf."

Akihiro paused, "I wonder what Mio would say if I told her about the voice, and you running off? She gave me an emergency number, she'll be angry if I interrupt her 'important meeting' but," Akihiro put on an incredibly fake face, showing fear, "I'm just so worried about Conner and Wolf."

Conner glared down at him, "Fine, you can come."

Akihiro was just like mio. Or, more accurately, Mio was just like her father.

**WITH MIO:**

"Seriously? The Atom?" Captain Marvel snorted. "I don't see how you could be useful at that size."

"It's the size that makes him useful," Batman retorted.

"Absolutely!" Flash agreed. "Still, we could always use more raw power and Earth has a third Green Lantern. Guy Gardner."

"No," both Green Lanterns snapped.

"But we could really-"

"No!"

I looked over at Logan, raising an eyebrow, "Why are they-"

"Drop it." He ordered.

"Fine."

"If we're considering Blue Devil, then I nominate Red Arrow," Green Arrow changed the hologram to that of his former protégé. "Roy has more experience and he's no kid anymore. He's 18. A legal adult."

"Red Arrow has been uncooperative and disrespectful," Aquaman retorted. "If we reward that behavior, what message does that send to the rest of the Team?"

"What do you think Hellhound?" Canary asked me.

"I hate him, I don't wanna work with him, so put him in the League pronto before he decides to join Young Justice." I ordered.

Logan turned to me, "You realize if he joins, you'd be his boss."

I brightened up, "Never mind, I demand a trial period with Red Arrow on the team so I can fully assess his traits and training before recommending him to the League."

"No fair!" Green Arrow complained. "You can't just change your vote!"

"Your son practically molested me!" I snapped, "I get torture time for that! So let me work him to the bone for a few weeks, I recommend him to the League and never bring to attention the fact I was sexually assaulted by him, we're even!"

Everyone was silent for a moment, until Wonder Woman piped up, "You do realize we're right here, correct?"

"… Just forget about that."

Logan growled, standing up, and glaring at Green Arrow, "Your boy did _what _to my little girl!?"

"Not now Logan!" I snapped, "I'm negotiating!"

**WITH AKIHIRO:**

I looked up at Conner, frozen in place, holding Lex Luthor's tie as the man stood above me, smiling down. "Well, well, well, Daken Akihiro."

I glared up at him, "I'm not a Daken! My name is Akihiro!"

He raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"You listen to me mister!" I snapped, "I don't like Conner at all, but Mio loves him, so if you hurt him, I'll gouge your eyes out!"

He tilted his head to the side, "Well, whatever went wrong, I'll fix it, trust me Daken, you're to valuable of an asset to lose. Our deal still stands."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I snapped, but he just got into his car, and drove away.

"Conner, if you can hear me, blink twice."

He didn't move. I smirked, taking out a black marker, "Don't pass out, when there's markers about."

**WITH MIO:**

"This is taking forever." I complained, watching the League bicker.

"This is politics." Logan explained.

"I hate America." I complained, "Such a complicated government system, no wonder nothing get's done."

"Japan has such a better legal system?"

"Japan, the part I lived in, didn't use such a ridiculous amount of gasoline." I pointed out.

"Good point, you ever consider going back?"

"Not an option." I dismissed.

"Why isn't going to your childhood home and trying to have a normal life an option?" He asked, "You obviously don't want to be in the hero business any more."

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

He shrugged, "You aren't considering long term employment."

Oh, this was about the whole _'I can't be you Logan, and I'm not fit to be your successor'_ crap I pulled back at Utopia X. Was he ever gonna get over it? Probably not, he offered me his place on the X-men, and I threw it in his face. "I'm got the team."

"Your team is fine Mio." He said, "But how long do you think it's going to last? When any of these kids get an offer into the League, they'll take in. One by one, they'll all move on. Where does that leave you? No Justice League? No X-men? Where are you headed?"

I was silent, not sure how to answer.

"No," Superman said firmly. "Red Arrow may be 18, but the rest of the Team is too young. We're not inducting children into the League."

Stupid spandex wearing alien.

"I have seen into the mind of several of the team." Doctor Fate gestured to the hologram of Aqualad and Kid Flash. "Of the Team, these three are ready."

"And what of Zatanna?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Absolutely not!"

"That sounded almost protective, Doctor. Least we know Zatara is in that Helmet somewhere," Wonder Woman teased.

"Why is Doctor Fate a member?" Captain Marvel asked, standing up. "You coerced Zatara into giving up his life to you or else lose his daughter instead. Not cool."

"Should such behavior be condoned?" Red Tornado asked.

"Zatara desires Doctor Fate to remain with the League," Doctor Fate added.

"Oh, please," Green Arrow huffed.

"It is true. Zatara's trust in Nabu is...measured. He desires the League to retain a close watch on us."

I sighed, what did age matter?

"Plastic Man," Batman introduced and Captain Marvel struggled to hold in his laughter.

"I dunno," Flash shook his head. "The guy's got a pretty substantial criminal record."

Captain Marvel burst into laughter, "Sorry, sorry. The guy just cracks me up."

Flash sighed, staring at Captain Marvel just like everyone else, "Maybe it's time we talked about the elephant in the room. Should Captain Marvel remain a member, now that we know he's only 10 years old?"

"He does possess an adult body and the wisdom of Solomon," Red Tornado informed.

"Wisdom does not equal maturity," Aquaman retorted.

"Neither does age." I countered.

"Hey, I'm sitting right here!" Captain Marvel frowned, offended.

"Then Billy," Black Canary spoke with a gentle tone, "maybe you should leave. Until we've hashed this out."

"No," Batman shook his head. "Captain Marvel is a member and is entitled to stay until or unless he's voted out."

"Its not just his age," Wonder Woman stated. "It's the fact that he lied about it."

"I didn't lie...exactly. I just...left out the part about being a kid," Captain Marvel smiled innocently.

"That's the kind of thinking only a child would voice," Wonder Woman stated, ignoring the stares. "A lie is still a lie, no matter how you dress it up, Billy. No one knew. Therefore, it's a lie."

"I knew," Batman stated.

"I shouldn't be surprised," Wonder Woman frowned. "Since you adopted Robin into the life of crime-fighting at the right bold age of 9."

"Robin needed to help bring the men who murdered his family to justice." He defended.

"So he could turn out like you?" She challenged

He glared at her, "So that he wouldn't."

"I agree." I said, "Putting Robin into the fight at that age wasn't a mistake. He's not mentally damaged from it, or emotionally damaged."

"And how do you know this?" Hawkwoman asked.

"For one, he's my… well, my best friend." I explained.

Flash snorted, "Ironic, friendship continues through the generations. Batman and Wolverine. Robin and you."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." I challenged.

"No, just predictable." He waved off.

Martian Manhunter stood up, "You seem to be consistent that 18 years is a minimal, suitable age for joining the League. Yet, what of Miss Martian? Though she is biological adolescent by Martian standards, she was born 48 Earth years ago."

"So what is the deciding factor? Chronology or biology?" Red Tornado asked. "Take Superboy."

"Exactly," Black Canary interrupted. "He's less than a year old. Does he have to wait 17 more to stand beside us?"

"And another thing, why didn't I have a say in you being put in charge of the team my nephew is on? I mean, I get it, you're an X-man, but does that really excuse you from your long history of killing? Not to mention who your father is." Flash asked, looking over at me.

I stood up, slamming my palm down onto the table, "Who my father is has _nothing _to do with who I am. I under stand who I _used _to be isn't someone who should be sitting at this table, but let me tell you something Flash Boy, I was kidnapped by Hydra at the ripe old age of ten! Made to watch as they killed my mother. After that I was taken away to a strange country where people cut me open, stuck wires into me, and beat me to oblivion every day! They _forced _me to kill! Then, after a year of being put through that _every day_, I bolted with a four year old on my back, and lived on the streets for months, before I was forced to join the Dark Avengers, and they made me kill."

I took a deep breath, glaring at everyone in the room, "After anything like that, I'd imagine everyone here would be a bit _screwy_, huh? I'll admit, I've done some stupid, messed up stuff before, but I changed! And I've done enough good to counter all the bad, and then some, alright? So if any of you have any problems with that, if you're a woman, say it at the risk of getting a scar right down the middle of your face. If you're a man, say it at the risk of losing your genitalia." I spat, popping my middle finger claw on my right fist.

Flash paused, "Alright, fine, it was a low blow. I apologize."

I sat down, looking around the room. "Good."

Canary spoke up, "Mio Howlett, after supervising the entire team for so long, you're in a special position to tell us whose ready to be on the League."

I sighed, "Megan? You're considering her right? Forget it, she's been at this job for a grand total of five months, age means nothing, experience and IQ means everything. Megan isn't ready."

"And Superboy?" Red Tornado asked.

I paused, frowning. "He has emotional abandonment issues." I looked up at Superman, "Which center all completely around you by the way, thanks for tainting his talent and crushing his heart."

Superman glared at me. "I didn't-"

"You crushed his hopes of acceptance." I said. "He is no where near the level he should be on, all because of emotional trauma you put him through. You succeeded in ruining what could have been one of the greatest heroes the world has ever known, and you know what? The saddest part is, you know it's not to late, and you still refuse to take action."

I looked at him in disgust. "Ya know, me and Conner used to bicker about whose father was worse, mine or his, and suddenly I realize, I was wrong. You are worse than my father, at least mine gives credit when credit is do, and the occasional moment of attention to make me feel like I'm not trash."

I continued before he could come back at me, "You're a _grown ass man_, acting like a _spoiled child _who didn't get the right _Christmas gift_. suck it up and grow a pair _Clarky-Boy_."

I shook my head when he opened his mouth, "Don't even try to make an excuse, you still just call him Superboy don't you?"

He was confused, "Why, that's his name isn't it?"

I groaned, "Such a worse father than mine."

I shook my head again, "Anyways, give me a little more time with Conner, maybe seven to eight months, I'll have him League worthy. Wally? Yeah, he's ready for League, so is Kaldur. Robin? No, he's also dealing with emotional trauma, give him a little time, maybe two months, and then I'd recommend him for membership in a heart beat."

I looked over at all of them, "There's one person none of you have seemed to consider, Artemis."

There was silence, until Green Arrow piped up, "What about Artemis?"

I smiled, "That kid is something else, I'm telling you. You should really be proud of her Ollie, she's the best student I've ever had. Honestly."

He paused, before smiling a little, "Really?"

"Yeah." I said, nodding, "Out of all of them, she's the one I recommend the most. I'm being completely serious about this everyone. I. Want. Artemis. In The. League."

They all looked at each other, before Batman stood up. "If that's all then…"

"No other ideas?" Superman asked. "Then here are our candidates for new or continued membership."

Holograms of all the candidates surrounded the table. Batman gestured to all the heroes, "We've debated size, gender, origin, experience, age, temperament, and background. But, what is the fundamental criteria for membership?"

"When all is said in done," Wonder Woman interrupted, "the question must be: whom do we trust? Trust to fight beside us? Trust to have our backs? Trust to uphold the high standards and ideals of the Justice League?"

"Time to vote," Batman announced.

I turned to the computer screen, scrolling through the choices. I voted yes for Atom, Aqualad, Blue Devil, Guy Gardner, Kid Flash, Artemis, and Icon. She voted no for Miss Martian, Rocket, Red Arrow, and Plastic Man. The computer screen disappeared, and Batman turned to everyone.

"All those in favor of ratifying the results?"

I raised my hand with the others, crossing my fingers under the table for Artemis. _If no one else, just her, okay? She's earned it._

"All opposed?" Silence. "Then we are adjured."

**LATER, AT MIO'S APARTMENT:**

I got home late, frowning when I saw Conner sitting up, I heard Akihiro's breathing in the back bedroom, he was asleep. "Conner?"

He looked up at me, "Your home."

"Yeah." I said, shrugging, "Long debate at the League."

He sighed, "Mio, I've got to tell you about what happened today."

He held up a box of small, red metal plated, "These are called shields, if I put one on my arm, it'll oppress my human DNA, and I'll get full kryptonian powers."

I frowned, "Where'd you get them?"

He bit his lower lip, "Lex Luthor."

"Why would he give them to you?' I asked, crossing my arms.

"Because… because he's my… uh… my other father." Conner said, "Cadmus created me to be a clone of Superman _and _Lex Luthor."

I sighed, "Well, that's a pretty messed up family Conner, but hey, who am I to judge?"

"You aren't mad?" He asked.

"Nope." I said, "Now, I'm going to take a shower, when I get out you can tell me all about it, okay?"

He smiled as I passed him, "Okay."


	36. I Hate Family Reunions!

**I have lied to you**

**The same way that I always do.**

**This is the last smile**

**That I'll fake for the sake of being with you.**

**The sacrifice of hiding in a lie.**

**The sacrifice of never knowing,**

**Why I never walked away,**

**Why I play myself this way,**

**Pushes me away.**

**Why I never walked away,**

**Why I play myself this way,**

**Now I see**

**You're testing me,**

**Pushes me away!**

**I try, like you**

**To do everything you want to do.**

**This is, the last time,**

**I'll take the blame,**

**For the sake of being with you.**

**The sacrifice of hiding in a lie.**

Mio frowned at Roy as she walked in through the door, hearing Artemis said, "Sure. Team's needed a real archer."

Mio glared over at Roy, "Well, look what the wind blew in."

He snorted, "Look what the cat dragged in."

"Shut up ginger."

"Can it short stuff."

"Mio!" Called an excited teenage girl.

Everyone turned around, seeing her step through the door with Wolverine.

She was a head taller than Mio, brown curly hair with one platinum blonde streak in her bangs, dark brown eyes, and fangs poking out of her smile. Mio growled, "What are you doing here Amber?"

Amber rolled her eyes, "Nice to see you too."

Mio's eyes scanned over her, the normal long sleeve black shirt with red corset, and black skinny jeans with holes all in them. "Get lost."

Amber paused, "W-what?"

"Get lost. Leave. Go away. Beat it." Mio rattled off. "I don't want to see you."

Amber took a step back, "But, Mio, I've been gone for two years, don't you wanna, I don't know, catch up or-"

"Since she won't leave, I'm gone." Mio snapped, walking away into the kitchen.

Conner raised an eyebrow at Amber, "Who are you?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes, "Mio's cousin. Guess she never talks about me, right?"

Conner sighed, "Never."

He had thought he knew all Mio's secrets, guess she had a lot more. Including why she hated this girl. "So, why's she mad at you?"

"I have no idea." Amber groaned.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "Uh… are you sure? If there's one thing Mio's good at, it's letting people know why she hates them."

Amber sighed, "I honestly don't. I'll try to talk to her about it. Trust me, I know Mio, she's just blowing off steam."

Conner nodded, "Alright then, so… you're her cousin?"

"Yeah." Amber said, "Well, kind of. Sabertooth is my father."

Conner's eyes widened, "Sabertooth? _The _Sabertooth?"

Amber nodded, "Yeah, the same Sabertooth Mio got into that trouble in New Hampshire with."

Conner frowned, "Uh, New Hampshire? What happened in-"

"Don't listen to her!" Mio snapped, storming into the room, "Ignore her Conner, she's filth!"

Artemis looked at Mio in shock, and Wolverine growled, "Mio, watch yourself."

Amber looked like someone had slapped her, "Mio, look, I don't know why your so angry at me, but I'm trying to-"

"You know exactly why!" Mio growled, grabbing Conner's arm, "Conner, I'm going home. You coming later?"

Conner nodded, "Uh, yeah I just…"

"Go ahead Conner." Artemis offered, "We've got this mission covered."

Conner nodded, and he followed Mio out of Mount Justice.

He waited until they were home and Akihiro was safely seated in front of a Bruce Lee movie, until he finally asked, "Mio, you wanna talk about this?"

She shook her head, "No. I don't. Just stay away from Amber, okay?"

Conner looked exasperated. "What did she do to you?"

"Nothing." Mio ground out, "Drop it."

"Why won't you tell me anything!?" Conner snapped. "Every day. No matter what happens, or how many times I open up to you, all you do is keep your secrets locked away."

Mio frowned, "Conner, I think I can answer that pretty damn well. I have bigger problems than you do!"

Conner reeled, "What!?"

"Face it Conner, I've got a really dark past that I'm trying to put behind me, but it keeps popping up, Amber being here, in Mount Justice, that's living proof." Mio explained.

"Then talk to me about it!" Conner begged. "I can't help you unless you let me know when something's wrong."

"No."

"Why!?" Conner snapped, "Mio, I'm working, alright!? I'm trying to make this work, but you need to pitch in a little here too!"

Akihiro piped up, "Shut up mongrel, she does not take orders from you."

Conner pointed at Akihiro, "Are you even going to say anything to him!? He treats me like garbage, and before that stupid spell, he treated you even worse! But you keep sheltering him, you feed him, you teach him English, hell, you taught him to play go fish last night!"

Mio glared at Conner, "You leave him out of this! I warned you form the very moment you tried to start a relationship with me, it wouldn't work! You're the one who persisted to try and do it anyway!"

"I thought it might not work because of other people not wanting it to, not you being to much of a coward to commit!" Conner growled.

Mio froze, and then glared, "Conner, take that back."

"No!" He said, walking down the hall into their room. "I'm not taking it back."

"Where are you going?" She snapped, following him into their room, "If you think I'm the one sleeping on the couch tonight-"

Conner grabbed his jacket off the back of their room chair, then grabbed his school books, "I'm not making you sleep anywhere!"

He stormed past her, walking through the living room, and stopping at the front door, turning to look over his shoulder, "Mio, last chance to stop me from leaving."

Mio just shrugged, leaning against the wall, "Last chance to not leave."

Conner just glared at her, and then walked out the door, slamming it behind him. She waited until she couldn't hear his angry footsteps anymore, and then, without even realizing it, she sank to the floor, covering her face in her hands.

Akihiro stood up, walking over and hugging her, "It's okay Mio, I'm here."

Mio nodded, wiping away tiny little tears, "I… I know. You're always here."

"Forget about him Mio, he's not worth it anyways." Akihiro suggested.

Mio wrapped her arms around him, hugging him back, "Thank you."

"Why did you even chose him in the first place? You deserve a man who can keep you safe, not the other way around." Akihiro pointed out.

Mio chuckled, "I know that's the general idea, but I've always… been more of… the other way around. I like being the protector, not the protected. I haven't been protected since… I actually can't remember the last time I needed it."

Akihiro nodded, "So, you like being in charge?"

Mio sighed, "I guess it's just in my genes."

"What do you mean?" Akihiro asked.

Mio bit her bottom lip, "My dad manipulated anything and everyone… he's actually the reason I don't use my, ugh, some of my powers anymore. I don't want to be a manipulator. I want to earn what I have in life."

Akihiro nodded, "Well, if I was you- AAAAAAHHHH!"

Akihiro jumped away from Mio, holding his head in pain. Mio jumped after him, "Akihiro, are you okay? Where does it-"

Before she could answer, Akihiro lit up in bright purple and pink lights.

Mio froze, "I haven't seen anything like that since… oh no."

She jumped away from Akihiro, popping all her claws, she knew she was going to need every advantage possible for this fight.

Akihito fell to the ground again, but it wasn't Akihiro anymore.

"Daken." Mio greeted.

Her father stood proud and tall in front of her, smirking. "Well, took longer than I thought for Donna to get that taken care of. I see Amber is back now, right?"

"You remember everything?" Mio asked, nervous.

"No, not everything. That little telepath you've got with you is not as dumb as I had her pegged. She put up blocks in my mind so that certain information I wouldn't remember." Daken laughed, "Honestly, it was a good idea on her part, but she made to many assumptions."

Mio growled, as Daken popped his claws as well, his eyes going dark, he was in kill mode. "She thought I knew about you and Conner. Sure, I had my suspicions, but I had no idea you two were living together." Daken laughed again, "Honestly it… pisses me off. I thought you were smarter than this. Guess I'll just have to teach you another lesson about _feelings_."

Daken lunged at Mio, throwing attack after attack, slashing and cutting at her. He had to give her credit, she blocked every single one, for about two minutes, until he finally saw an opening, and plunged his fist into her gut. She yelped as he pushed his claw all the way in, until his fist was pressed against the stomach. Tiny drops of blood dripped onto the floor as he dragged his fist up until it hit her rib cage. She ground her teeth, and he kept pushing up, lifting her up, and slamming her against the wall.

She sputtered, blood leaking out her the corners of her mouth, her lungs were shredded, she couldn't breath.

"You know, I always thought you'd eventually find someone." Daken said casually, as if he was having a normal conversation. "I just thought you'd have more sense than to go after the love child of Superman and Lex Luthor."

Mio ground her teeth together, "Don't you talk about Conner like that!"

He jerked his fist violently, causing her to groan in pain, and glare up at him with fierce intensity. "You never knew when to shut your mouth Mio. Another thing you got from me."

Mio smirked, "Yeah, I know."

Daken retracted his claws, and Mio fell to her knees, holding her entrails, panting as they started to knit back together. "This is usually the part where you deny about having anything to do with me. You know, the whole 'I am nothing like you!' speech."

Mio just stood up slowly, looking Daken in the eye, "That would be lying. I've grown a lot since we last met Daken. Conner, he's helped me grow. They all have, Robin, Artemis, Kaldur, Meghan, Wally, and even Roy, that little douche."

Daken laughed at that, "Hey, I kind of like that guy, Red Arrow's his code name right? Personally, I think he'd be a nice toy. Have you slept with him?"

Mio's nose crinkled in disgust, "Roy!? Ew! Gross, I'm not sleeping with that ginger! He's a spoiled little child, just like Lester!"

Daken's smile broadened, "Well then, now I have to try and bang him."

"Daken!" Mio flinched, "I don't wanna hear that!"

"Oh right, as of today, he's on your team, right? Little telepath couldn't stop me from remembering that one." Daken chuckled. "Still, just the thought of that boy, all cut up from _my _attacks, panting, sweating-"

"I'm calling Donna!" Mio interrupted, slapping her hands over her ears.

Daken laughed even more, "Oh wow, you're still a virgin aren't you?"

"Why am I listening to this!?" Mio groaned, bringing her cell phone up to her ear, "I don't need to listen to this!"

Daken started to laugh again, but then stopped, eyes widening.

Mio paused, looking up at him, "Are you okay-"

He slapped a hand over her mouth, cocking his ear upwards, trying to widen his rang of hearing. Mio took a deep sniff, trying to pick out familiar scents. Daken took his hand off her mouth, grabbing her upper arm instead, "Come on, we've gotta get to that hide out of yours!"

Mio yanked her arm away, "Are you kidding me!? I'm not taking you there!"

"Well, I hope you have somewhere else for us to hide." Daken snapped, "Cause you aren't helping me fight Romulus."

Mio paled, "Romulus is here?"

Daken nodded, "And pretty damn close, so, take me to the mountain."

"I can't risk-"

"If I was interested in hurting your little friends, I would have done it months ago!" Daken snapped.

Mio sighed, "Fine, my motorcycle is-"

"I know where it is." Daken said, grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the parking lot, "And I'm driving."

* * *

><p><strong>AMBER CREED!<strong>

**I am SO sorry I made Mio hate your OC, but trust me, it'll all be cleared up, next chapter. I promise, they'll go right back to being friends! Again, I am so sorry! It was neccessary! This is like Mio's original story, but it's also different, so once everything clears up, and you still don't undeerstand, just PM me about it, and I'll clear it up for you. I promise!**


	37. HowlettCreed Family Reunion Part 1

**TO UNDERSTAND **_**EVERYTHING **_**THAT HAPPENS IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE **_**EXTENSIVE **_**KNOWLEDGE ON WOLVERINE'S BIOLOGICAL, AND UNOFFICIALLY ADOPTED FAMILY! Which means all of his 'litter'. If you don't know any of these characters mentioned, Comic vine . com should have all the answers you're looking for. Thank you.**

The minute Daken and I had ran into Mt. Justice, Conner had thoroughly freaked out, and by freaked out, I mean grabbed me, threw me over his shoulder, and tried to fly me out of the ceiling, freak out. I had slipped out of his hold easily though, landing on the ground in-between my father and my team, everyone of them had drawn a weapon, pointing it at him.

"Guys, stand down!" I ordered.

Reluctantly, they all relaxed, but still kept their hands tight on their weapons.

Conner landed on the ground hard, denting the stone floor. He stalked over to me, grabbing my shoulder and yanking me behind him, his blue eyes glaring right into Daken's blue eyes. I honestly couldn't decide which ones were bluer. Unfortunately I had to immediately calm the situation down, Daken doesn't take well to his whole 'alpha male' thing being challenged.

I shrugged his hand off, stepping away from him, "Get away from me, you idiot. And stop trying to start a fight, we've got trouble."

Connor broke eye contact for a moment, staring at me. I could still see the fresh hurt in his eyes. A quick sniff of his scent told me that he was not only still betrayed by our argument at my apartment, but the fact that I wasn't immediately apologizing and trying to get him back. He should know by now I'm not like that. I heal quickly, I bet I already look like I'm over it, and moving on. Yeah, if I could be so lucky.

"Yeah, we've got a problem." Conner growled, "That dirt bag is here, in the _mountain_!"

I rolled my eyes, "Oh grow up Conner, he's with me. Listen, we've got a tail on us, someone _a lot _worse than Daken, okay? So here's what's going to happen, you're all going to use the zeta beams to get the hell out of here, and me and Daken will take care of him."

Artemis piped up, "Who is this guy trailing you?"

Amber spoke next, "It's not my dad, is it?"

I snorted, "I said the guy trailing us is worse than Daken, you dad doesn't hold a candle in comparison."

Her eyes narrowed, while Daken just chuckled. "Hey, Sabertooth has given Wolverine a run for his money-"

"Amber, Sabertooth didn't join the Dark Avengers. And we all know what the Dark Avengers did. Now drop it. Just get your ass into the zeta tubes, and never speak to me again." I ordered.

Kaldur stepped forward, "Mio, you've endangered this team enough, we deserve to know who is coming here to harm you."

I held his gaze for a moment, before sighing, "Fine. The man whose coming here to try and either kill me, enslave me, torture me until I wish for death, or some combination of the three is Romulus. Romulus is the first specimen of Lupus Sapiens, an old species of beings that evolved from wolves instead of apes. He has been alive for thousands of years, he was around during the cave man days. He's my great grandfather, and honestly I'm surprised it's taken him _this _long to bring the fight to me. He's the same Romulus in Greek mythology, he founded the city of Rome, and yes, I'm still waiting for Remus to finally make himself known. I don't know, maybe he's dead."

They all stared at me for a moment, before Robin spoke for them all, "Uh, what?"

"Get in the zeta tubes now!" I hissed.

Wally stepped forward, "Hey look, whoever this guy is, we can help you fight him."

"To much for you." I batted off, "To much for any of you, or any combination of you all. I'm telling you this as your superior. As your mentor, get in the zeta beams, and get out of here."

Kaldur opened his mouth to argue, but I shook my head, "Kaldur, Romulus has nearly taken out Wolverine before, and even I can only last about twenty minutes with Wolverine, none of you could last three. Run the numbers."

Kaldur paused, before finally nodding, "Very well, are you sure you are… secure with fighting beside your father on this?"

I grit my teeth, making a mental note to have a 'talk' with Kaldur later about not calling Daken my father. Hell, I don't even call him that.

Megan spoke before I could, "Uh, Kaldur, I'm pretty sure this is one of those, enemy of my enemy is my friend, kind of deals."

I nodded, "Yeah. Now get into the zeta beams, or I swear, I've got enough heat on me to knock you all out for several hours, so do I drug you, then send you on your way, or are you going to follow orders?"

Kaldur nodded, "Team, we let Hell Hound deal with this."

Artemis shook her head, "Mio, just let me help-"

"You don't have a healing factor Barbie." I said, putting an end to her train of thought.

One by one, they left in the zeta tubes, until there was only Conner and Amber left.

Amber crossed her arms, "You're not keeping me out of this fight Mio."

"Fine." I shrugged off, "Conner, get in the tube."

He shook his head, "I'm not leaving, and you should know me well enough by now to know that you're not going to convince me."

Daken laughed again, "Your boy toy is getting a bit to overbearing, kid."

Conner growled, taking a step towards Daken, and I leapt into the air, driving my knee into the side of Conner's head.

Conner grunted, hitting the ground hard, knocked out. Amber's eyes widened, "Whoa, you sure are packing some fire power behind those knee caps, aren't ya?"

"My elbows and knees are reinforced with adamantium." I explained, as we both grabbed one of Conner's arms and through him into the teleporter. He vanished, and Amber gave me a glare.

"I thought you only have your claws-"

"Hydra decided they wanted me to be more lethal, but not weighed down like Wolverine." I explained, "There's a big part of my skull that's got a plate of adamantium in there too."

Her eyes widened, "Really?"

I grabbed her shirt collar, then knocked my head against hers as hard as I could. She dropped, and I smirked. "Yeah, really."

I tossed her into the zeta beam too, turning back to Daken, "How close is he?"

He shrugged, "About four or five miles. Honestly, how long do you think it's going to take for Batman to contact Logan and tell him that you're fighting Romulus, and run down here and intervene?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, half an hour, one hour?"

Daken nodded, "And you think that you can hold him off that long? You said yourself you can only hold you own for about twenty minutes against Logan."

"I'm with you." I pointed out. "You've nearly killed Romulus before."

"He was wounded." Daken explained.

I mumbled a quick curse in Japanese, then sighed, "How long can you hold against him?"

Daken grinned, "Three hours."

I let the fact that Daken was so far ahead of me in fighting ability sink in, then sighed, "I hate my life."

Silence lasted for about two minutes, before Daken broke it. "You mentioned something about heat-"

"You aren't getting any." I shot down, "And what's more, the second this fight is finished, I'm putting you in rehab. Extensive rehab. SHIELD backed rehab."

He glared at me, "There is no way in hell I'm going-"

"Donna is already clean." I snapped. "You've spent more than two months clean, even if it wasn't your decision."

Daken smirked, "Yeah, the little kid version of me, huh? Let me ask you, how does it feel to have the little boy you loved with all your heart turn into the man you hate more than anything?"

I glared at him, "I don't know, how does it feel to know that a woman who happens to be completely human, with no special abilities at al has more will power than you? Like I said, Donna's already clean, and you're still pathetic."

Daken shook his head, stilling chuckling. "Still, Superboy? I'm really, _really _disappointed in you. What did you even see in that guy? He's a whiney little douche."

I raised an eyebrow, "Did you turn back into a full grown man to question my romance life, or are you gonna shut your trap and help me cut Romulus into hundreds of little pieces?"

He smirked, "Couldn't think of a better daddy-daughter bonding pass time."

The minute the words left his mouth, the front door literally exploded. I brought my arms up, protecting my face, and planted my feet firmly. Once the explosion died down, I looked up, to see Romulus for the first time. He stood, towering over me and Daken both, his long black and white hair tied up in a samurai fashion. His claws were extended, they were nothing like Wolverine's, Laura's, Daken's, not even Sabertooth's! They were all different, some straight, some curved, but they all looked deadly.

I shifted into a fighting stance, popping my claws, and tried to get a handle on my pheromones. I pulled my scent in, trying not to let it show how completely terrified I was through my scent. I pushed out over confidence, hoping he would get scared at that. Probably not, but coming off as a punk kid who has no sense of mortality or worries is something I enjoy doing.

Romulus' eyes met mine, and that was when I realized that there was no end to this fight.

Even if I won here today, Romulus was just going to be on my tail again tomorrow. If not Romulus, then somebody else. Hydra would come after me again, eventually. Every government facility in the world worth talking about wanted a mini wolverine of their own. I fit that description pretty well.

I didn't want to spend my whole life running.

That's all I've ever done. I ran from hydra, I ran from my father, I ran from Logan to come to Young Justice, and I knew the minute this battle was over I'd be running from Connor.

I was a runner, not a fighter. That's what I've always been. Everyone else in my family chooses fight over flight, but I'd rather run. Better a live dog than a dead wolf.

I staggered over my pheromones, have to keep a radiation of confidence, no fear can leak through my scent. The minute Romulus sees a weakness, he'll go for it. He's beaten Logan before, he can beat me too, I just need to- wait a minute.

I paused, "That… doesn't make sense. That doesn't make any sense!"

Daken stared at me out of the corner of his eye as I dropped my guard, staring at Romulus, "That's just… that's not fair!"

I could feel Romulus staring at me as I looked over at Daken, "How is that possible!? He's so… tall!"

Daken sighed, "Mio, this isn't the time, nor the place-"

"No, this is the perfect time!" I insisted, "It's the first time I actually see him-"

"And all you're concerned about is his height?" Daken asked, shooting me a look.

"He's like, two stories tall!" I insisted, "And Logan's just five foot six, maybe! You're only five foot four, and I'm stuck with five feet and two freakin inches! Why does he get to be over seven feet tall!?"

Daken suddenly stiffened, "Oh hell."

"What?" I asked. "You thought I didn't know your height? Yeah, your file says five foot five, but I knew you were five foot four."

Daken shook his head, "Kid, you smell that?"

"The scent of your utter humiliation, or the scent of Romulus's utter confusion?" I asked.

The wall to my right suddenly exploded, and huge man made of red and silver metal stepped through, two long metal tentacles came out of his arms, waving around in the air.

My eyes widened, "Omega Red?"

He smirked, a thick Russian accent slipping through his metal lips. "Ah, so the Wolverine has told you of me, little puppy?"

I looked over my shoulder at Daken, "What the hell did he just call me?"

Daken sighed, "Now you've done it Red."

I turned back to Omega Red, getting back to back with Daken. "My name is _Hell Hound, _bitch!"

"Helly!" called out an overly cheerful voice.

I froze, "Oh _hell _no."

I looked over to the left to see DeadPool standing there, waving a gun at me, "Check it out Helly, family reunion!"

I groaned, slapping my face with one hand, "It would be, if you weren't here. Hint, hint."

He put a hand over his heart, pretending to look wounded, "Oh come on Helly, after all we've been through, I consider all you guys my family! I'm you're Uncle Pool!"

"Get bent!" I ordered.

"Aw come on, don't you remember all the good times?" He asked, faking innocence. "When me and you stirred up hell in New Hampshire-"

"You set an orphanage on fire, and left me to get all those kids out."

"That crazy night in Egypt-"

"You tricked me into unleashing a mummy bent on destroying all female life on earth."

"And who can forget that weekend in Madripor?"

"You threw me out of a helicopter, fifteen miles from the shore."

DeadPool paused, "Ya know, I almost forgot, you remember that afternoon in Japan!?"

I stared at him, "Wilson, I didn't _know you _when I lived in Japan. And thank God I didn't, because if I had known you at that age, I'd be _bat-shit crazy _by now!"

He looked around, "Hey wait a minute, I came in to early, didn't I!?"

"… Too early?" Daken asked.

"Yeah, you guys haven't revealed the soul shattering truth yet!" DeadPool explained. "I was supposed to come in after Wild Child!"

"Wild Child is dead Wilson." I groaned.

"Oh hell, I'm just messing up everything today!" DeadPool complained. "You guys haven't even seen him come back to life!"

"Go away!" I snapped.

"No way, I'm supposed to save your life in this chapter." DeadPool insisted, "Or… maybe that's next chapter. I just kinda _skimmed _the preview."

"Enough of this!" Omega Red roared, his tentacles shooting towards me. I ducked, and looked up in time to see Daken getting impaled through the back.

He let out a scream as Omega Red picked him up, throwing him through the air, "MIO!"

"Sorry! Old habits die hard!" I explained, jumping over Omega Red's tentacle as he tried to attack me again.

DeadPool fired a few shots at Romulus, who walked forward, towards me like the bullets were nothing. I can tell you from experience, bullets hurt!

I bent over backwards to avoid Red's next tentacle, before trying to slice it in half. Not even a scratch. "Damn it!"

My phone suddenly sprang to life. "_Hot mama's, pimp daddies, and the people rolling in the caddies! Hey rockers, hip hoppers, and everybody all around the world-"_

I answered it quickly, holding the phone with one hand and defending from Red's tentacles with the other. "Who ever you are, this is _not _a good time!"

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S NOT GOOD, ME GETTING A CALL AT THREE IN THE MORNING FROM AMBER SAYING YOU'RE FIGHTING ROMULUS WITH DAKEN!"

I flipped over Red's tentacle onto the kitchen counter, "Oh! Logan, hey… you! Look, there's a perfectly good explanation for _all _of this!"

Logan sighed on the other end, "Try me kid, I dare you. Just try me."

"One word, starts with a D, take a guess."

"Are you seriously blaming this on Daken!?"

Romulus grabbed Dead Pool by the neck lifting him up of the ground.

"Hey!" I grabbed the blender, throwing it at Romulus' head to distract him from DeadPool. Something smelled off about Wilson today. He wasn't at his A game, and until Daken heals up, he's the only thing standing in-between me being turned into shish kabob by Romulus. "Pick on someone your own size!"

Romulus growled as the thick glass shattered against his skull. He tossed DeadPool to the side, walking towards me. I growled into the phone, "No, I'm blaming this on DeadPool!"

"When did DeadPool get there!?"

"A little after Omega Red." I admitted, jumping of the counter and jumping onto the floor lamp, then launching myself through the air onto the chandelier. I grabbed onto it with my ankles, hanging there as Daken burst back into the room, launching himself at Romulus.

DeadPool jumped up again, firing at Omega Red.

"Omega Red!? I though it was just you, Daken and Romulus!"

"Join the club gramps." I dropped down from the chandelier to avoid Red's first tentacle, and his second wrapped around my ankle yanking me towards him, "And if DeadPool is telling the truth, Wild Child is coming next!"

"I killed Wild-"

"Tell that to the crazy guy holding all the guns!" I snapped. "Look, just get Amber, Laura, Sabertooth, and anyone else you can think of over here. I'm calling for a Howlett/Creed Family Reunion!"

I hung up on the phone as Red used his other tentacle, shoving it through my gut. I screamed, grabbing the tentacle, trying to pull it out as it burrowed deeper. He laughed, tossing me back into the wall.

I panted as I felt myself starting to knit back together. The familiar pull, tug, and tickle of the flesh forming back over bone, arteries reconnecting, and internal organs flopping back into place again.

As I gathered myself up to get to my knees, my yes met a pair of black, spiky combat boots. I followed those boots up to met the owner, a tall blonde man with piercings all over his face. His black leather costume was covered in spikes and belt buckles.

"Well damn, DeadPool was right."


	38. HowlettCreed Family Reunion Part 2

**TO UNDERSTAND **_**EVERYTHING **_**THAT HAPPENS IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE **_**EXTENSIVE **_**KNOWLEDGE ON WOLVERINE'S BIOLOGICAL, AND UNOFFICIALLY ADOPTED FAMILY! Which means all of his 'litter'. If you don't know any of these characters mentioned, Comic vine . com should have all the answers you're looking for. Thank you.**

He smirked down at me, "I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced. I'm Wild Child, and you must be the girl I was supposed to kill years back."

I glared up at him from the ground, "Have you met the small part of my mind reserved for fashion critiquing? No? Well, it says, if you wanna try and rock the steam punk look-"

I tried to kick his feet out from under him, but when he jumped up to dodge it and flip over me, I grabbed his long blonde hair, yanking him back down to the ground, and quickly pinning him. He slashed at my face with his claws, getting one eye. I drove my claw into his gut, letting a wicked grin spread over my face at his scream.

"Then you might wanna have the 'punk' to back it up bub."

I tore my claws upward, and he kept trying to slash at my face and my shoulders to get me off of him. "I'm surprised, expected much more of a fight from a man a lot older then me. How's it feel to be beat up buy a little girl?"

I yanked my claws out of his stomach, driving them in-between his forearms, stabbing them into the ground so he couldn't move them, "But I'll give you some credit here, you're a cat feral, so you're an aerial fighter. You're not a brawler, you're a stalker. You wait until your opponent's guard has dropped, then you take them out quickly."

I could only see out of one eye, he had nearly scratched my other one out of the socket. "It's a useful technique, don't get me wrong, but as long as I keep my guard up, you can't do anything. Ya know why? Cause I _am _a brawler, a master at several martial arts, taught to me, engraved into my mind, body, and soul. The minute something like _that _happens to you, you never look at anything the same again. You're always waiting for someone to make a move, a reason to fight."

I opened my newly healed eye, meeting his, "You're always prepared, especially after a man like Wolverine is done training you. So tell me, are you gonna make a move already? If you are, then by all means, _make my day punk_."

Omega Red's tentacle wrapped around me again, yanking me off of Wild Child. Wild Child got up to run after me, but Dead Pool's bullet flew into his skull, and he dropped.

"Okay, I've had about enough of this." I growled, managing to slip out of the tentacle. The minute I hit the ground, Romulus threw Daken into me. I felt my neck crack viciously, as I hit the ground, grunting.

"Ugh… who the hell is fighting who!? It's like a four way fight! Who am I supposed to kill!?" Daken complained.

"Start with Romulus!" I snapped. "And _try _not to break my neck again."

I reached up, grabbing onto my neck, about to pop it back into place, but Daken batted my hands away. He grabbed my neck instead, getting ready to twist it back into place, "Be gentle! Be gent-"

He snapped it to far to the right, and I screamed, "YOU MADE IT WORSE! YOU MADE IT _WORSE_!"

"Then do it yourself!" He snapped, "I'm just trying to help-"

"Daken!" I interrupted, "I can't _move_!"

"What?!" He asks, shocked.

"I can't move anything below my neck, you paralyzed me!" I admitted, desperately trying to move my hands. "Daken, you _suck_!"

"I'm the one keeping Romulus off of you!" Daken protested.

"Yeah, fine job you're doing with that, you and you're stupid shark fin of a haircut!"

"Why does everyone hate my hair?!"

DeadPool screamed as Omega Red grabbed him with his tentacle, throwing him into a wall. Wild Child Body tackled Daken, tumbling with him, ending up crashing into the couch. Daken jumped up, grabbing the flat screen off the wall, and bringing it down over Wild Child's head. It shattered, cracking around his thick skull.

"Why would you _do that_!? To the biggest TV I've _ever seen_!? That… that is a _crime_!" I shouted, trying to get feeling back into my arms. "I _hate _my family! You're _always trying to kill me_!"

"TV is the least of your problems girl."

I looked over, seeing Romulus standing over me. "So, you up for waiting until I can move, or is this a 'forget about honor and chivalry, just cut her head off and get the job done' kinda thing?"

He just smirked, "I'm not here to kill you."

I glared at him, "Yeah, I know that. You're gonna try and turn me into one of your little minions like Wild Child. Honestly, I think it's because you're tired of dealing with kitty cats. I have a feeling he's on your back all the time asking 'Can I haz cheezeburger?' right?"

"You've got a mouth on ya girl, I'll give ya that." Romulus said, plucking me up by the top of my head, and twisting his wrist. I immediately felt my neck crackle, and then expand a little.

"Thanks _pal_." I said, grabbing his wrist and then boot kicking his chin, "Now piss off!"

He dropped me to the ground, but before I could move, something flew through the air, tackling Romulus out of the way, and slamming him down onto the ground.

My eyes widened in surprise as the figure stood up, red and white hair flowing past her shoulders, "Ah ain't gonna tell ya twice Romulus, ya best leave mah little sista alone, ya hear?"

I stood up, looking around. Daken and DeadPool had been thrown to the ground, panting, trying to heal up. Wild Child was flat on his back, unconscious as Rahne stood over him, smirking.

Omega Red was furiously batting at Kitty, trying to strike her as she kept fazing in and out, striking at him with her sword as Laura stepped up behind him, sinking her claws into his back. He roared, falling to the ground, maybe dead, maybe not. Probably not.

I stared in shock, "What the-"

"You said you were calling for a family reunion." Wolverine said, stepping up next to me, "I just figured I'd bring _all _my kids."

Armor stepped up next to Rogue, her red energy covering her, "And since the boys weren't really cutting it for you-"

DeadPool glared at her, "Hey, we were out numbered! And we wore those guys out for you! That's why you got them all down so quickly, ya brat!"

Amber smiled, brushing her platinum blonde streak out of her face, "So we all high tailed it out here to help out our best friend."

Laura shrugged as she stepped around Omega Red's body, "Niece."

Rayne chuckled, "Our personal trouble making little bampot*."

Armor joined in, her red energy vanishing, "Training buddy."

Rogue looked over her shoulder at me, "Little sista."

Kitty gave me a small two fingers salute, "Favorite little psychopath."

Another voice spoke up, "Kid that we love so much, we'd come out in daylight for."

I looked over my shoulder, seeing Jubilee standing there, a big hood over her shoulders and head.

She rolled her eyes, "Well don't just stand there gawking, we all just came out here to kick butt, take names, and save your arse once again. What do ya say to that?"

I felt a big, goofy grin spread over my face, "Well, I take back what I said before, I _love _my family!"

Rahne nodded, turning from her human form into her half-wolf form, "And no one messes with our family."

Wild Child staggered up, rushing over to Romulus as he too stood. Romulus gazed over the small army assembled, "Well, that is… different. What's this now Logan, getting children to fight for you?"

All my sister/aunts glared at him, and the minute Daken tried to stand up, Rahne gently pushed him back down, "Hold up there handsome, it's our turn."

Daken brushed her hand off, popping his claws, "Yeah, but what you're all fighting over just happens to be mine."

Jubilee snorted, "Ya wanna knock some since into him while we take care of the big guy and his little kitten?"

Amber walked up next to me, her nails curled into claws. "So this is Romulus?" His gaze met hers, and she extended her claws further, "Mio, however the hell you want us to play this, just let me get a few good shots in. Cause this is the guy who effectively ruined Logan, Victor, and Daken's lives. Wild Child's too, he just doesn't see it yet, and I'll be damned if I let this guy get to Daisuke."

I raised an eyebrow, "Who's Daisuke?"

She shook her head, "I'll fill ya in later."

I nodded, and Rahne spoke up, "Well, what's the plan little wolf?" (I know she has a thick Scottish accent, but after looking online about how to write that out… I got a major headache. Seriously, look it up! It doesn't even look like English!)

Omega Red groaned, stirring, and Logan moved to subdue him again, but I quickly spoke up. "Well, I say that Armor, Rahne, and Kitty take care of Omega Red. Amber, Jubilee, I think you two can handle Wild Child, right?"

Amber smirked, "Let's see if my big brother can take me."

"Rogue, Laura, you two help me with Romulus." I said, popping my claws.

Rogue nodded, "Mah pleasure, shugah."

Laura came to stand beside me and Rogue. I looked over my shoulder Logan, then pointed at DeadPool and Daken. "Hey Gramps, you go over there and take care of those two losers."

DeadPool scoffed at me, "Hey, my info saved your life!"

Daken elbowed him, "Just shut up and watch the fight."

Rouge raised an eyebrow at me, "Now he's okay with sittin' on the sidelines?"

I rolled my eyes, "No, he just realized if he sits there like a good boy, he can watch a ton of incredibly athletic women fight people he hates, and look sexy while doing it."

Armor blushed, "Wait, really?"

I laughed, "Just bend over a lot kid, and maybe he won't kill you next time he sees you."

She glared at me, "That's not funny."

Romulus growled, "Enough! If you children are going to try and fight me, then fine. But just know, I don't take any please in such an easy win."

Laura looked over at me, "What does he mean, easy? We have them excessively out numbered."

"He means because were girls." I answered.

I could smell immediately hate coming off of all my female family members, and I smirked up at Romulus, crossing my arms at him, "Yeah, I just signed your death warrant for ya pal. Ya know why? Cause every single girl in this room is a die hard feminist? Why? Because that man over there, the one with the coolest claws in the family, raised each and every single one of us to do things that everyone said girls couldn't do."

Jubilee nodded, "Amen."

Rogue nodded, "Preach it sista."

"And you're finally gonna die, you old wind bag. You'll be killed, by _girls_." I snapped, "Alright, girls? Let's give these boys hell."

*Scottish slang for idiot


	39. HowlettCreed Family Reunion Part 3

All hell broke loose the minute I charged Romulus. He was a lot faster than I had him pegged for, but not as strong as I thought. Me and Laura would divert his attention, get him to point his claws towards us, then Rogue would deliver some heavy punched to his back, stomach, or just grab his leg and slam him down. Hard. It only took him a few minutes to catch on though. When Rogue snuck up behind him again, he just kicked Laura in the chest, sending her tumbling, and then grabbed Rogue, tossing her away.

Laura jumped back, about to get him but he shoved his claws into her stomach, both hands in knuckle deep. He yanked his hands apart, shredding Laura, and tossing her aside.

I stepped forward, trying to slice his head off, but he batted my claw away, knocked my feet out from under me, and then stomped down on my sternum. It felt like a boulder falling on top of me, crushing my ribs like twigs.

He look down at me smirking, "Well then, what now?"

I groaned as my ribs started cracking, "Well, if I was you, I'd clench up."

"How-"

A fury of black hair and blue eyes grabbed Romulus by his legs, slinging him around, and then throwing him into the ceiling. Connor stood there, fuming, eyes wild.

I stood up, wincing as my ribs racking back into place, "Look, Conner-"

"I don't care if you told me not to come and fight!" He snapped, "And I know you're stronger than I am, you make it obvious every day, but that being said, you're my girl, and there is no way in hell I'm-"

I grabbed his shoulders, jumping up into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his torso, smashing my lips onto his I pulled away after a moment, panting, "Stop talking."

He stood there, staring at me as I clung to him, "Uh… okay."

I smirked, "Perfect, now duck."

"What?"

"Duck you kryptonian idiot, duck!" I ordered.

Connor's eyes widened, and he wrapped his arms around me, hitting the deck and Romulus sailed over where he had been standing, barely missing him.

I scurried out form underneath Connor, "Okay look, I love you to death, but in all seriousness, go hide behind Logan!"

I block Romulus' first attack, deflecting the second with my claws from beneath my wrist.

Connor spoke up, "Yeah, not gonna happen."

"I'm not going to put up with your macho man act today!" I snapped, taking a knee to the face. I grunted, spiraling back and barely managing to keep on my feet.

"Logan is glaring at me like he want's to kill me!" Connor snapped, "I am _not _going _anywhere _near him."

"Then just stay down!" I barked out, ducking under Romulus' swipe and lunging at his thigh. In one quick downward movement I sliced open his knee, tearing down deep into his ankle. He howled in pain, falling to the ground. I rolled out of the way of his desperate grabbing, standing up tall, and smirking at him, "Boom."

Before he could even ask, Rogue jumped down on top of him, putting everything she had into one punch, nailing his sternum. The sound that made was more of a symphony of cracks and snaps, with some background sound of squishes and gurgles. Rogue stepped away from him, "Shugah, we ain't gonna be able to keep him down fer long!"

I groaned, "I know, we need some way to stop his healing factor."

Connor spoke up, "Hey, didn't you mention some kind of magic knife, the Mariposa blade?"

"Maramusa!" I snapped, "And Cyclops has it! If you think he's going to trust me with it, you're insane! He doesn't even trust me to hold his coffee."

Rogue snorted, "Ah wouldn't either, if you slipped vomit inducing drugs inta mine."

"That was only one time-"

Romulus staggered up, turning to me with fire in his eyes. "You think you can beat me? The entire reason you exist is to serve me! You are nothing but an inbred little pawn, that-"

He moved to attack, but before he could, Laura descended on his head, with a fury I've never seen in my life. I've never even seen Logan be that angry. She sliced his scalp to ribbons, and shred his shoulders like confetti, blood pouring out like foam from a shaken can of soda.

He hit the ground, and Laura stepped off of him, "No one threatens my niece."

"Wow." I said, eyes wide, "I have one bad ass aunt."

Laura raised an eyebrow at me, "You're ability to joke under these circumstances alarms me."

I shrugged, "It's a coping mechanism I picked up from Spiderman. You remember, that time Logan needed a babysitter, you guys were all busy, and I still say I'm _not _the one who caused the subway car incident."

Rahne looked up from a nearly subdued Wild Child, "When the hell did that happen!?"

"Uh, about two years ago, I think." I mumbled. "Only one guy died…"

Rogue sighed, "Cause of death?"

"Adamantium blade to the throat." I shrugged, "Wasn't mine, but that's what the forensics on his wound said. And Spiderman said he was never babysitting for Logan again, after giving some huge hate speech about… what was it, killing?"

Dead Pool popped up behind me, "Hey! Helly, my main man, girl, psycho, killing machine, wanna be hobo-"

"The hell do you want?" I snapped.

He nodded, "Well, here's the thing, you all need to stop hurting Romulus, cause this is about the time he drops the bomb, aka, the life changing truth."

"Where the hell top you get this stuff!?" I asked, exasperated. "I'm not giving Romulus a chance to lie his ass off and get into my head, I need to find a way to kill this son of a bitch and fast!"

Dead Pool sighed, "Look, I like ya Helly, but I really want a reappearance in this Fanfiction, and if I don't keep the ball rolling here, Imaninja41 is going to be so pissed at me, it's not even funny."

"**You bet your ass I will, now get to the good part!"**

"Then why don't you just write it out, ya ginger midget!" Dead Pool shouted.

"What?" I asked, not sure who he was talking to.

"Not now, ya loveable sociopath you, I'm arguing with the author!" Dead Pool sassed. "Now, get this story rolling ginger!"

"**Ugh, fine."**

Romulus suddenly lashed out, his fingers wrapping around my throat tightly, pulling me into his chest, facing everybody as he dug into my neck with the tips of his claws, "If anybody tries anything, we'll find out if cutting off her head will kill her, understood?"

There were two loud *snikt* sounds, as Daken finally stood up, and Logan started stepping forward. But before anyone could do anything, Omega Red suddenly broke away from Armor, thrashing around wildly with his claws.

Daken started walking towards me, "Logan, you take care of Omega Red, I'll get Mio."

Logan grabbed his shoulder, "Do you think after everything you've put her through, I'm just going to let you have a grab at her?"

Daken whirled around to glare right at Logan, "I'm not going to lose her to _him_."

Logan held his gaze for a moment, before I interrupted, "Hello, being held by a mass murdering sociopath over here!"

Logan nodded, "Don't make me pick up your slack."

Daken walked over slowly, until he was ten feet from Romulus, all of my sisters hanging back at about fifteen feet. Romulus dug his claws in further, "Not one more step Daken, you know I could have _five _of her if I wanted to."

"Oh come on, no one can have my unique charms." I snickered.

"This wasn't part of our deal Romulus." Daken snarled.

"Our deal was canceled the minute you betrayed me." Romulus bit back, "I'm collecting what you owe me, before it get's ruined any further!"

"Mio was never supposed to be yours, you agreed she was mine!" Daken argued.

"Am I the only one who realizes this is still American!? No one owns me!" I growled.

Romulus shook me back and forth violently, making my head snap back and forth. Great, now I'm dizzy. "Silence! Men are talking right now."

"Well, screw you too!" I snapped. "Further more, will someone please tell me what the hell is going on!? What deal!? And so help me God, if I'm not brought to light on this right now, I'm going to grow feet claws, through pure willpower, and slice your tentacles off!"

Romulus chuckled, "You've got wit, I'll give you that, but your skills are sorely lacking. How many times are you going to count on your daddy to save you?"

"I can fight my own fight, old man." I growled.

"Then why are you always needing backup? Madripor, New Hampshire, Dark Avengers, Hydra, even when you lived in Japan. You're rack sheet is nothing but a cry for help."

"I didn't need anyone's help when I lived in Japan!" I protested, "I fought by myself, and I accepted victory or defeat by myself. I _never _asked for help fighting!"

Romulus looked at me curiously, "Your mental shields are still in tact after all these years? I would have guessed that by now they would have worn down."

"Mental what?" I asked, "I ain't got any mental shields, Frost read my mind every time I walked into her class."

"Your mental shields were not meant to keep anyone out." Daken piped up, "They were just put there to bury your memories."

I stared at Daken for a few seconds, "Daken, whatever the hell is going on, you better tell me, right now."

Daken held my gaze, "Romulus had an amateur telepath suppress a lot of your memories when you were younger."

"… How young?" I mumbled. This couldn't be true, it just couldn't. What memories? Nothing is missing from my mind! Everything is accounted for, every day of my life, nothing is missing from my memories.

I could smell the emotions rolling off of Daken, his pheromones having been long forgotten. Shame, anger, and an protective instinct. "You were ten years old."

Dead Pool suddenly shouted out, "Yeah! That's the secret! Keep going shark fin, let all the truth out."

I snapped out of my emotion fueled trance, "Now is not the _time_, nor the _place_."

I brought my knee up, and then dropped my ankle down like a sledge hammer onto his groin. He roared, slashing my throat to ribbons and throwing me right at Daken, sinking down to one knee. Daken caught me, sitting me down, "You okay?"

I laughed, blood spurting from my mouth, and flesh ripping around my throat. I managed to talk around it, "I don't care if he's a feral, a telepath, or a human. A male is still a male."

Amber laughed, "First lesson Wolverine ever taught us, anatomically, all men have one weak spot."

I held up my fist for her to bump as all my sisters suddenly charged Romulus, "Wanger shot!"

She bumped is with her fist, "Wanger shot!"

Daken stared at me, "He taught you both to kick a guy's nuts?"

"How else are really small girls supposed to beat really big guys?" Amber asked.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah Amber, it's not because of hardcore training, or hours spent perfecting every punch or kick, or the thousands of laps run around the danger room, or the thousands of times you get your ass handed to you by every sparring partner he sets you up with. It's just that one crotch shot that defines a female fighter."

Amber groaned, "It was a joke, you stupid feminist!"

Daken sighed, "Dear God, what the hell has Wolverine done to you?"

I glared at him, "More importantly, what the hell has Romulus done to me? What the hell did her mean by mental shields? Daken, what did you lie to me about."

He raised an eyebrow, "Besides the usual?"

"Yeah."

"Just get Emma Frost to unlock your memories, I know you'll figure it out." Daken said, standing up. "Now, my work here is done, and Romulus isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

I looked over at Romulus, surrounded by all of my sisters, using claws, fangs, super strength, and god knows what else to tear him limb from limb. "Did I mention I love my family?"

Daken snorted, "Yeah, whatever Mio. Do me a favor, no matter what the hell you see in your memories, just deal with it. Don't try to track me down or anything, got it?"

I stood up also as he walked away, "Daken, you need to get back to Donna."

He shook his head, "She doesn't-"

"You love her." I stressed, "And I smelled her when she came into my apartment, she loves you too. Find her, stand up for someone other than yourself for once in your life, and God Almighty, be a man instead of a child for once."

He whirled around, grabbing me by the front of my shirt, "You need to shut your mouth."

Amber stood up awkwardly, "Yeah, I've got my own daddy problems, so I'm… just gonna, uh, walk away from this one."

"Whatever Amber." I waved off, then spoke lower so only Daken would hear "Look Daken, I get it what you're going through here, I really do. I went through the same thing when I got out of Hydra and into the Dark Avengers. You're world get's flipped, and you don't know who to alley yourself with, because you feel like the minute you do, you're gonna get flipped again, and look at that, you're helping someone do something that's not only morally wrong in your book, but it's gonna back fire on you. So you spent the last few months of your life doing things only for you, that I'm pretty sure you never believed in anyways. Like taking over Madripor."

He glared at me, "I wanted to take-"

"If you cared about Madripor so much, then why haven't you been there since you first left?" I asked, "It was something to kill time. Not something important to you. But here's the deal Daken, you've tumbled across something that just might be worthwhile, but you're still shaken up about Romulus betraying you. You need to snap out of it before Donna is gone." I sighed, and Daken let my shirt go, my words sinking in.

"I'm not gonna tell you want to do, because if I do, you're just going to do the opposite for the hell of it, but I will say this. Donna is probably the only woman is the world who would _ever _put up with every piece of your personality, and quite possibly, she's your equal. So if you miss out on her Daken, you're never going to be happy, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself. I've been down the self hatred road Daken, and despite you being a absolutely despicably excuse of a human being, you shouldn't be subject to that."

He met my gaze, "Despicable excuse, huh? You might wanna hold off on that accusation."

I nodded, gesturing to the gaping hole in the wall for his to walk out of, "Then go prove me wrong." He started walking away, and I called after him, "By the way, don't be so shocked when you catch her scent, and if you don't man up about it, I'll… well, I'll tell you what I'll do once you find out."

He glared at me over his shoulder, not really understanding that, and then left without a word.

Logan walked over to me, Omega Red's head dangle from his fist, "Hey ya wanna burn this?"

I shook my head, "Nah, you go ahead, it's you he kept smacking around."

Logan nodded, "Now, what to do about that bastard?"

We both stared at Romulus, he had already lost one arm, and his left leg wasn't looking so good. My family is _so _bad ass. Dead Pool spoke up again, "I know what's gonna happen, Imaninja41 is gonna make us all want to kill her!"

I glared at him, "Who the hell is-"

Romulus suddenly threw Laura off of him, backing up, and took out what looked like a detonator, pressing it. The area around him suddenly lit up in bright purple and blue lights, and a figure stepped out of them, with six arms. "Master, quickly!"

Romulus turned through all the turmoil, glaring right into my eyes. "Another day Mio Akihiro! You can't run from me forever."

I met his gaze, "I'll be waiting for you, Romulus."

He stepped backwards, and the man with six arms dragged him into the lights, then they vanished, as did the lights.

Amber stared at the area they used to be in, "Well, who the hell was that?"

Laura didn't budge, standing tall. "Someone we're going to have to kill."

Amber looked down at Wild Child's unconscious body, "So, what do we do with my half brother?"

Logan spoke up, "S.H.I.E.L.D. can find a suitable prison for him."

I nodded, "Yeah, I need to come back to Utopia X with you."

"Why?"

"I just need to talk with Emma Frost for a little. Mind to mind so to speak."

Amber piped up, "I'll come with you guys."

"Whatever." I mumbled, not really wanting to spend any time with her.

Conner cleared his throat, "Uh, Mio? Are you going now, or are you coming home for the night?"

"Now, why?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Well, because I think your grandfather is gonna kill me."

Logan glared at him, "I trust me, I want to." He stepped around me, grabbing Conner's shoulder tightly, "But I think that a little talk will be fine. Mio, go to the Black Bird."

I walked away, carelessly tossing a "Don't hurt him."


	40. Some Things Are Better Left Forgotten

Emma nodded to me as I entered her office, "Scott warned me you were coming. Thought I'd let you know, he locked up all his bathroom products."

I laughed, "Yeah, good to know he still sleeps in fear. It's a bit overboard though."

"After what you did to his mouthwash, I doubt it." She said, a small smile gracing her lips.

"By the way, any chance he uses leave in conditioner?"

"Why, so you can slip pink hair dye into it?"

"… I was thinking more of a gold color, but okay, pink it is!" I smiled.

She gave me a stern look, "Enough joking, you had an issue?"

I took a deep breath, "How long have you known I had suppressed memories?"

She set her paper down, "The first time I saw you."

"And you didn't tell me because…?"

She sighed, "I thought it would be best for the memories to come to you themselves."

"Emma!" I protested, "You let me go all these years, in your class, on your team, and you didn't once think it would be a good idea to try and _mention_ it to me?

Frost gave me a warning glare. "I had your mental health in mind Mio. You had just been through a very emotional and physical trial, and I wanted to spar you the sorrow these memories certainly hold. Extracting them is a very painful process."

"Well, I can take it." I insisted, "So get them out, I wanna know what Romulus tried to hide from me."

She paused, "Mio, if I may, your father is a very bad man, but he knows first hand how disturbing it feels to have your memories taken, then altered, and then the truth revealed. I doubt, even with a black hole for a heart, he would keep something like this unless they were so painful, he felt he must."

"My father is scum. Give me back my memories."

Emma sighed, "Very well, relax your mind."

I closed my eyes, going into deep meditation to try and calm my mind for Emma. "Wait!"

Emma sighed, "What Mio?"

"If my memories drive me insane, I want you to tell Gambit, I never understood a word he said." I said, putting on the most sincere tone I could manage, "And that, is the only reason I never bitched him into his grave, like Scott, or Hank, or anyone else. Because I just couldn't think up a come back to words I'm not sure if he said or not."

She rolled her eyes, "Alright then, memories?"

"Oh, yeah." I said, going into meditation again.

I felt her icy presence in my mind, a gentle prick at first, before it tore through everything I was. I was in so much pain, I couldn't even scream. Everything was cold, so cold it burned. Every breath I took, every move I made, amplified it times ten. _This_ was the worst pain I've ever felt. And the times I've been gutted, it was nothing compared to this.

Just as suddenly as the pain started, it stopped, replaced by memories.

_I was four._

_My mother twirled me around in the air, and we both laughed. She tickled me, and I screeched, trying to wiggle away. She grabbed me, pulling me into a hug, leaning against the barn wall. "Mama wa anata ni hijō ni mio o aishite iru." __**Mommy loves you very much Mio.**_

Emma's voice echoed through my head, "This is wrong."

Something snapped back into place.

_I was four._

_My mother was inside, making lunch, and I was playing outside by myself. I was at the edge of our property, using a tree branch as an imaginary sword, defending my home from samurai seeking to steal it from us._

_A voice snapped me out of my play, "Well, looks like the tiny ninja's tale ends here."_

_My head snapped up to look at a man much taller than any man in town. He had long blonde hair, and a lot of ear rings. He wore black leather clothes, and looked like nothing I had ever seen before._

_I stood straight, dropping my fake battle stance, staring at him. "Who are you?"_

My mother had taught me English as a secondary language, I remember now. She had spoken it fluently, and I had learned it easily. So that's why English was such a difficult language for me to learn from Logan. It had been suppressed so deep in my mind, my head was literally repelling the thought of me learning it.

_The man smiled at me, "Wild Child, and you, are Howlett Mio."_

_I shook my head, "No, I'm Fukui Mio."_

My mother's name had been the only one I had known.

_He grabbed my arm, yanking me towards him, "No matter what your name is, I have my orders, no loose ends."_

_He raised his hand, and that's when I saw his claws. Big, long, cat claws, ready to tear me to shreds._

"_No!" I protested, trying to pull away, and then taking my stick, waking him in the head with it._

_He grunted, growling at me as he prepared to kill me. Before he could though, someone grabbed him from behind, then threw him into a tree. He grunted, glaring at the new man who had just saved my life._

_He stood, shorted than the blonde man, but he looked more like the people I had grown up around. He had black hair in a style that some of the teenage boys in my village wore, called a mo hawk. He was wearing a dark purple button up shirt, with a dark green vest covering it, and dark pants with chains hanging off of them. His clothes looked like pictures I had seen American models in magazines wear._

_Wild child stared up at this new man, eyes wide, "Daken, you heard Romulus! We were ordered to kill her."_

_The man named Daken held his arms out, and there was a loud *snikt* sound, as three knives popped out of his hands, "Yeah, I heard Romulus. I can also hear every instinct in me, screaming at me to protect the fruit of my loins. So, piss off."_

_Wild Child lunged at Daken, "Traitor!"_

_In three quick swipes, Wild Child laid dead at my feet._

_I stared up at the man, Daken. Daken meant mongrel in Japanese, it was a cruel name given to those who were only partly Japanese. However, it was nicer than calling them swine. He had just saved me, half breed or not, this man had saved my life._

_I dropped my stick, and folded my hands, bowing to him, "Thank you sir."_

The scene changed, but I knew what happened after that. Daken had walked me back to my house, and had stayed the night. In the morning, my mother had called me to breakfast, and told me Daken was my father. She told me he had left, and would not be back for a long time, but would come when he could.

_I was five._

_I struggled against the children pulling me away from the barn, towards the edge of the hill, "Let me go!" I ordered._

_The oldest one of them, a girl names Ai smirked, "Sure thing."_

_They shoved me harshly over the side, and I tumbled down, hitting my head against a large rock propped up against the side of a tree._

_The kids rushed over, gasping as they saw me groaning in pain, and holding my head as blood oozed out. One of the younger girls turned to Ai, "She's bleeding!"_

"_You don't think I know that?" Ai snapped, turning away and running, "Just leave her there!"_

_They ran off, leaving a six year old girl with a bleeding head wound suffering and alone._

_I laid there, sobbing a the pain that I had never experienced before, until I came to the startling realization that the pain was fading slowly. Eventually, it was gone. I felt around for a cut or scab, but the flesh and skull were fine, and the only evidence there was an injury was a splatter of blood._

_I started shivering at what had just happened, holding up my blood covered hands, staring at them, "What am I?"_

Emma's voice sounded again, "This memory is also wrong."

_I was five._

_I struggled against the children pulling me away from the barn, towards the edge of the hill, "Watashi ga yukō!" __**Let me go **__I ordered._

_The oldest one of them, a girl named Ai smirked, "Kakujitsuna mono." __**Sure thing**_

_They shoved me harshly over the side, and I tumbled down, hitting my head against a large rock propped up against the side of a tree._

_The kids rushed over, gasping as they saw me groaning in pain, and holding my head as blood oozed out. One of the younger girls turned to Ai, "Kanojo wa shukketsu shite_

_!" __**She's bleeding**_

"_Anata wa, watashi ga shitte iru to wa omowanai koto?" __**You don't think I know that? **__Ai snapped, turning away and running, "Chōdo soko ni kanojo o nokoshi!" __**Just leave her there!**_

"_Chōdo kanojo o nokosu?" __**Just leave her? **__Asked a familiar voice. "Mā, watashi wa anata no chichioyadearu koto o nikumu." __**Well, I'd hate to be your father.**_

_They all turned around, seeing Daken standing there, glaring at them. Ai spoke up, voice trembling, "Anatahadaredesu?" __**W-who are you?**_

_He grabbed her by the front of her shirt, lifting her into the air, "Watashi wa kanojo no chichioyadashi, watashi ga imamade anata wa nidoto kanojo o kizutsukeru no izureka o kyatchi shita baai, watashi wa anata ni sore kara, anata no ryōshin o korosudeshou_._" __**I'm her father, and if I ever catch any of you ever hurting her again, I will kill your parents, then you.**_

_They ran off, leaving me with my father. I wanted to stand up, to show him I wasn't afraid of those girls, and that I was strong, but it just hurt, so much!_

_I laid there, sobbing at the pain that I had never experienced before, until I came to the startling realization that the pain was fading slowly. Eventually, it was gone. I felt around for a cut or scab, but the flesh and skull were fine, and the only evidence there was an injury was a splatter of blood._

_I started shivering at what had just happened, holding up my blood covered hands, staring at them, "Watashi wa nani?" __**What am I?**_

"_Speak in English. Last time I saw you, you could not speak it properly. Show me you have improved." He ordered, walking over to me._

"_To answer your question, you're better." Daken said, coming to crouch down next to me, wiping the blood off my face, "They know you're better, and they want to make you think that you're weak, but you're not. If any of them rolled down that hill, they would be dead by now. You are as healthy as you have ever been, and it hasn't even been two minutes."_

_He stood up, grabbing my shoulders and making me stand also, "My blood flows through your veins, it makes you strong. One day, when I stand over the world, ruling it, you will be beside me."_

_He stood there, and in all my life, I had never seen a man stand taller. All the men I had grown up around where humble farms, store owners, and a few teachers. None of them would have the nerve to stand so tall, to ever look a man like my father in the eyes. None of them displayed the kind of power this man did. I could smell it on him, he displayed power in every motion, in every word._

"_Well, Mio? What do you think of that?"_

_I snapped out of my trance, and grinned at him, "I want to be just like you, father."_

I screamed, jolting out of my memories, sitting upright in my chair, I panted, looking around wildly, sweat pouring down my face like a river.

Emma looked up at me with sympathy. "Mio-"

"Frost!" I snapped, "I… I don't feel well."

She held up a hand, and her trash can drifted over toward me. I grabbed it from the air, and clutched it to my chest, throwing up in it.

I spit out what was left of my lunch, and then looked up at Frost weekly, "Ugh… you mind if… we just pick back up tomorrow?"

She stood up, walking over to me, and patted my shoulder, "Take all the time you need. We can pick this back up anytime."

I shivered, "Frost… I told him… I said I wanted to be… _just_. _Like_. _Him_."

"Mio, every girl says that to her father at some point-"

"My father is a mass murdering psychopath!" I said, standing up quickly, still holding her trash can tightly. "I just… I-"

"You were five Mio, you didn't know what he was like at the time. You didn't know him at all. You grew up in poverty, and saw a man who radiated power, wealth, and a way of living you had never heard of. You wanted that, who in your position wouldn't have?" She said gently, "You should get to sleep, we'll start again tomorrow, _before _lunch."

I nodded weakly, "Sounds good."


	41. Sisters

Amber stopped me on my way to Frost's office the next morning, "Mio, look, I'm sick of this! You ignore me, all the time! You don't talk to me, you tell me you hate me, but you won't say why. Mio, we were like sisters when we were training under Logan, and now I'm garbage to you? What the hell is your problem!?"

I glared at her, "Yeah, we were like sisters. We talked about everything, you were the only one I told about my pheromone power, I told you about my past in Japan, everything I thought I knew."

Her gaze softened, "So what happened to us? Why haven't we spoken in three years?"

"What happened!?" I snapped, "You left me here, that's what happened, you bitch!"

Her eyes widened, but I spoke before she could, "No, you listen to me Amber, everyone here hated me! I had no friends, no one but you! You were the only one I related to Amber. We were both raised the same way, and we both had the same vendetta! Kill our fathers! But then, you just up and left one day, and left me with all those losers! You weren't there for me."

My voice cracked on the last word, and she grabbed my shoulders, "Mio! Look, I never wanted to leave, but I had to! Something came up with my father, and I… well, I had to go clean up after him for awhile."

"Well what was so important you left me? Huh?" I snapped.

She shook my shoulders a little, "I found out I had a little brother."

My eyes widened. "Little… that guy Daisuke you were talking about?"

She nodded, "I found out about him around the same time Sabertooth did, and I had to go down there to help keep him away from my father."

I couldn't believe this! "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you ask me to come help you?"

"The same reason you never ask anyone to help you with your father's issues." Amber said, shrugged, "I guess I'm just doomed, for the rest of my life to make up for my father's wrongs. That's the only way I can clear my conscience about what I've done in my father's name."

I shook my head, "What happened to you wanting to kill him? We had common ground there…"

She chuckled, "I grew up I guess. Decided I didn't want to waist anymore time on my father. He's been around for thousands of years, and he's not going anywhere. But the people he hurts? I decided to dedicate my life to them."

I shook my head, "Amber…"

"I know it sounds strange, from me, no less." She shrugged, "I guess I just took a good look at what I had here. Family, friends, training, and I just decided, I wasn't going to let him hold me back from that. So, I chose this, over him."

"But he deserves to die after what he did. If he were human he would have been arrested for child abuse a long time ago." I pointed out.

"If he were human, he would have died a long time ago, so would have I." She said, "I know what he's done to me, what he's done to Alex, but if I let myself keep wanting to kill him, I'm just giving into him. He's still in control of my life."

I sighed, "I wouldn't do it."

"I know." she said, shrugging. "I just decided I'll be better off with him out of my life, that's why I let him go. So he'll leave this place. This is my home, he's not welcome here." She sighed, giving me a look one would give a sister that was doing drugs, not quite pity, but pretty close. "I just wish you'd let it go. I wish you'd forgive him, and move on. You'd have such a great life."

I stared at the floor, "A coward like me, I'd never be able to do something that brave."

She looked at me sadly, "You aren't a-"

"All I've done is run my whole life!" I snapped, "I ran from Hydra to my father. Them I ran from my father to here. Now I'm just standing here, still hiding form both of them!"

She shook her head, "You're doing the smart thing, you're keeping yourself alive."

I glared at the ground. "I don't like being smart."

"Being smart is keeping you here!" She said, "With all of us? What do you think would happen to Lovette if you died? Or Logan? You are the _only _kid Logan didn't mess up with Mio, you're more like him than any of his little adopted litter, and you know it. You dying, would kill both of them, and Conner."

She took a deep breath, "And what about me?" She questioned, her voice quivering. "You're my best friend Mio, you're my sister! If you died, I'd go on a killing spree! I'd track down everyone who ever wronged you, and kill them all as painfully as I could!"

I was shocked at her words, and she continued. "Before you came along, the only thing I thought I would ever become, was my father. But because of you…" She paused, then continued. "Because of you, toting around that chip on your shoulder, not hesitant to tell anyone that you were nothing like your father. I wanted that the minute I saw you. I'm proud to be different Mio. I'm proud to want more than a life filled with killing and blood. I'm proud to be the next generation, and to actually be different than the last." She shook her head slowly at me, "Don't you want that?"

I paused, "I guess I do, but like I said, I'm to much of a coward to try and achieve it."

Amber took a deep breath, "Mio, you're going to have to grow up eventually."

I walked past her to Frost's office. "I'm going to spend my whole life, exactly like I am now. Young, and strong."

Now, just to try and get past the fog in my mind, with the help of Emma Frost.

_I was six._

_I would always make stories up to the kids in the village, telling them that I wasn't a bastard, that I had a father, and make up some name for him. Ichigo, Shino, Leiko, Luthando, anything I wanted._

_I glared at Ai, "Shut up! I do have a father! His name is Maemi Sai! And he's a soldier, in the war!"_

_She scoffed, "Last week you said his name was Ichigo, and that he was our representative to America. Give it up Mio, you're a bastard child, you're father is either dead, or doesn't love you."_

Emma sighed, "So many memories, changed. This one as well."

_I was six._

_My father had not stayed very long. After explaining to me that I was a lupine, and a few abilities I should look out for, like sensitive hearing, or good smell, he had left, saying he would return when he could. Nearly a year went by without head or tail of him, but that's didn't stop me from telling anyone who would listen about my father._

_My teacher would scoff at my good grades, "You must have cheated! Just what a bastard child is good at, cheating! Cheating and theft!"_

_I glared at him, "I am not a bastard child! My father's name is Daken Akihiro, and he's better than any man in this village."_

_He slapped a ruler down on top of my head, "Enough of this nonsense! I will have no more lies in my class room."_

"_They aren't lies!" I snapped, "My father is an important man, and the only reason he isn't around more is because he's helping to build an empire. He's going to rule everyone and everything one day, and I'm going to be beside him!"_

"_Enough!" my teacher roared, pushing me out of the door, "Go home! Don't come back for the rest of the month!"_

_I growled at him through the closed door softly, "When I rule beside my father, I'm going to have you sentenced to death."_

_I went home, and my mother said nothing to me about my suspension. She was used to me getting into fights by now._

_It was late by the time I got all the chickens rounded up, and when I finally did, I shut them in, and turned around to see someone walking up the path towards my house. By six, I had finally begun to distinguish scents, and this man smelled like no one form my village. I called out to him, "Who are you?"_

_He stopped his walk to my house, and started walking towards me. I backed up a little, not wanting to be hit. "Ha, a girl doesn't recognize her own father."_

_I paused, staring through the darkness to see a tattoo covering the man's left arm. I grinned, "Father!"_

_Before I could say anything up, father scooped me up, holding me. My grin got even bigger. He had never held me before. "What have you been up to, little trouble maker?"_

_I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him. He stiffened, not returning it. I didn't care. I pulled away, "I missed you."_

_He nodded, "I've been busy."_

_I understood. "Have you had fun? Working on your kingdom?"_

_He nodded, a grin creeping over his face too, "Lots of fun."_

"_What kind of things do you do?" I asked as he carried me towards the house._

"_Your English has gotten much better." He noted. "I have to… take care of certain people who get in the way of who I work for."_

_My head tilted to the side, "I thought you were the one in charge."_

_He smiled, "So, you remembered what I told you? Yes, I will be , one day. I'll inherit the kingdom I have helped build."_

"_Will I inherit it from you?" I asked._

_He nodded, "Yes, you will, once you're worthy of it."_

"_When will I be worthy?" I asked as he stepped up onto the front porch._

"_When you can drink a whole bottle of sake and not get drunk." He said._

_I stared at him, "What?"_

_He laughed, "When you're ready, you'll know."_

_He set me down at my front door, and ruffled my hair, "How is your school work going?"_

"_I am the top of my class." I answered._

_He nodded, "Good, have the other girls been bothering you?"_

_I shook my head, "No, but the boys are."_

_He raised an eyebrow, "The… boys are… bothering you?"_

Looking back at that moment, I'm pretty sure that the only words in his head at that moment were either "Oh shit, not already!" or "That's my girl! Seduce those men like your daddy would!"

I'd actually put my money on the later.

"_Yeah, they threw me off a bridge yesterday." I told him._

_He was quiet for a minute, before nodding, "Right, you should go to bed."_

_He turned to leave, and I called after him, "When are you coming back?"_

"_Whenever I can, you know I'm busy."_

I jolted out of my memories, gasping. I felt the shiver run through me again, and Emma's trash can was immediately put in my hands. I puked, spit, and then looked up at her in defeat, "Emma, when are we going to get to the important things!?"

Emma stared at me, "You just found out your father did not abandon you."

"He came around once a year if I was lucky."

"He protected you from Wild child and Romulus."

I shook my head, "Daken and Romulus mentioned something about a deal. Emma, I know you said I should take it slow with my memories, but I need to know what went down between them and me. If they made some kind of agreement about who I belong to, I wanna know!"

She nodded, "I can't simply skip over sensitive material Mio, but if I fast forward ahead, so to speak, you may not be able to process the information."

I glared at her, "Emma, just do it."

She slammed her palm down on the table, "Enough! Mio, you have taken risk after risk with getting these memories back, and despite your freakish tolerance for pain, damage to your mind is still being done! Now, we do this my way, or not at all."

I growled, standing up, "I need to know if my own father tried to sell me to Romulus, damn it!"

She paused, "Ah, this is what you fear?"

I sank back down into my chair, "I know that he's scum, but I… just can't stand the thought of him being that kind of scum. To me, at least."

She rested her hand on my shoulder, "Mio, do you think your father went unpunished for his actions to protect you? What do you think Romulus did when he found out?"

I sighed, "Probably tore him to shreds, and if he ever found out he was sneaking out to see me, probably tore him to shreds all over again."

Emma nodded, "I doubt Daken would go through all that to simply give you away."

I snorted, "If you're trying to imply he was a good father-"

"Nothing of the sort. He's most likely the worst father, in the history of fathers."

I chuckled, "Yeah, probably."

"However." She said, "I would never underestimate his protective instincts. You can't count on your father for much, but his protection, when you need it? I have no doubt he'd come running. Now, you get in his way, and he'll most likely subject you to horrendous torture."

I nodded, "Yeah, if anything proves that statement right, it's Madripor."

Emma paused, "Mio, have you ever confronted your father about all the wrong he's ever done to you?"

I shook my head, "Wouldn't do any good Frost, he'd just ignore me, take pleasure in the fact he upsets me, it would just fuel him, and make me look like an utter idiot."

"Fair enough, pick back up tomorrow?"

I nodded, "Yeah, sure."

I was halfway to my room when Daken called me.

I smirked to myself, I'm gonna kill him. "If you're calling to nominate me as the next Japanese dictator, press one. If you're calling to complain about the subway car incident two years ago, press two. If you just wanna bitch at me, hang up. I ain't gonna talk to you."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me Donna was pregnant!?" Daken hissed.

"Hey there pops, didn't you hear me? If you wanna bitch at me, just hang up."

"Mio, you should have told me!"

"Yeah, well it wasn't really my place. Now, here's that threat I promised you, if you don't man up and raise that kid right, and make me clean up your mess again, I'll turn that kid into a hippie, tree hugging liberal. I swear to God, I'll do it."

"… You wouldn't."

"I'll bye it a tie-dyed T-shirt for it's birthday." I snapped, "And I'll only let it watch the liberal slanted new channels. There won't be any Fox for that kid. Oh, I know, something else! I'll turn it into a mini-spider man, who refuses to kill, and preaches about the value of life to anyone who will listen to them."

"If you even try, I will personal shove my claw-!"

Suddenly, I heard a struggle on the other end of the line, and Donna's voice came into ear range, "Hey Mio, sorry about that. But, you _are _the one who eggs him on."

"It's fun!"

"Be in all seriousness Mio, let's just keep this between the three of us, okay?"

I grinned, "Don't you mean, the _four _of us? Pink or blue?"

I could hear Daken in the background mumble to low for Donna to hear, "It better be a boy this time."

"Doctor hasn't confirmed, but I've got my fingers crossed for a girl."

"That ain't what your boy toy wants."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Daken said he was fine with either."

"Yeah, he lied." I said, rolling my eyes, "You know the dude was a sexist before he met you, right?"

"What can I say? I have this way of knocking men down a few pegs."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here Donna!"

I laughed, "Well, you two lovebirds take care, oh wait! When's the little guy due?"

"This summer."

"Cool! I'll be there… ya know, when he's like, uh, two, four?"

Donna was silent for a moment, "Your father wants to talk to you."

"Okay."

Daken's voice came next, hissing into the phone. "If you tell Logan about this, I swear to God, Mio, I'll-"

"What Daken!? What will you do!? My mind is already turning into hell! Since you've done nothing but tell me what to do this entire conversation, here's an order for you. Piss off!"

I hung up, and collapsed on my bed. My dreams had become a mixture of memories, and fantasies, and I didn't even know what was true anymore. In some dreams my father would walk into my old home, kiss my mother, and then get into a tickle fight with me. In others, he would break the door down, behead my mother, and then put me through the same torture he did in Madripor.

The fact Emma was going so slow with my memories didn't make anything easier.

So I did the only thing I knew the do in a situation like this.

I went to find Logan.


	42. Sweet Dream- No, A HORRIBLE Nightmare

"Hand me the size eight wrench bub." Logan ordered as I sat next to him.

I smiled, handing it to him, "You got it, old man."

He stopped what he was doing, rolling out from under the car a little to glare at me. "This old man with still kick your sorry bum. In front of all your friends. Do you really want them to see you get beat by your grandfather?"

"My grandfather is Wolverine. I don't really think anyone can expect me to win a fight against you. Except maybe Lovette."

Logan sighed, rolling back under the van, "That kid thinks you could do anything."

"That's why I have to distance myself form her." I mumbled. "She needs to learn to do things herself, that she can't always depend on me. If she learns that, then she'll learn to protect herself. Then I won't have to worry about her anymore."

Logan didn't even bother to stop his work, "You know she's gonna be five next week right? That's a bit young."

"I'm not saying it's fair." I mumbled, "And actually… no. I didn't know she was turning five…"

Logan didn't say anything. He didn't want to upset me, but I knew that statement probably sent me down a few pegs on his respect list.

We worked in silence for a long time, it was only when we were fixing the last vehicle, his motorcycle, that he finally spoke up. "Why is your self esteem so low that you don't think you could step up to the plate once I'm dead?"

I stared at him, "Logan, do we have to talk about this?"

He fixed me in a stern gaze, the kind of gaze only parent can give their kids. Part of me is relived that I have a father figure to give me this kind of look. The other part of me is furious that I need a father _figure _to give me that look instead of a father.

"Yeah, we have to talk about it. I'm not going to be around forever, and when I wake up in Hell for the second time, I wanna be able to think in relief '_It's okay, someone's got my spot covered_.' And call me crazy, but I really thought it would be you."

I looked away from him, staring at the ground, "Why would you ever think it should be me? I'm nothing but a screw up Logan. I mean, New Hampshire, Madripor, Egypt, Young Justice, everywhere I go, I cause nothing but trouble."

Logan chuckled, "You think I didn't raised my fair share of hell in my day? It still is my day! I raise hell every chance I get."

"Your hell doesn't end up with a burning orphanage. Or hundreds of people dying thanks to a crime spree. Or a mummy trying to end all female life." I pointed out.

"You've learned over these past few years kid." Logan pointed out, wiping grease off of his hands, onto a white towel. That poor towel will never be white again. "I mean, it used to be you couldn't last ten seconds against me, now you can hold your own for eighteen minutes-"

"Twenty." I corrected.

"What?"

"You're first take down didn't count, the rules were only submissions, no take downs." I explained.

He grinned, "Rules, Shmules."

"Now whose the kid!?" I asked, pointing my finger at him, "And I ain't taking over for you Logan, I'm just… not gonna do it. Get Laura on this, she kicks my ass constantly."

Logan shook his head, "Laura isn't ready for so much responsibility. She's still trying to figure herself out, she doesn't need an entire team breathing down her neck."

He paused, "And, another thing, this is my last day on Utopia."

My eyes widened, "You're… retiring?"

"Hell no!" Logan snapped, glaring at me. If looks could kill I'd be dead right now. "I ain't old yet darlin."

You're unbelievably old, you geezer. I held up my hand sin defense, "Alright, truce!"

Logan sighed, grabbing a beer and opening it, "The X-men are splitting up."

I couldn't even comprehend it. The X-men and splitting up didn't belong in the same sentence, no, the same paragraph, no, the same book together! I mean, give me a break! The X-men have always been together, and they always will be. It's just a set thing!

"And I need to know kid, are you staying here, or are you coming with me to the new school I'm starting?"

My mouth seemed to move of it's own accord, because there was no way my mind was telling it what to say! My mind was still stuck on the splitting up thing.

"Where is your new school going to be?"

"Where Xavier's last one was." Logan answered.

"What are you going to call it?" Again, mouth not asking the right questions.

"Jean Grey's school."

Of course. Logan still hung up on Jean. Poor old bastard.

Ask a good question! One that matters! Do you hear me mouth!?

"Why do you need me to go?" I asked. Yes! Good questions! We're making progress!

Logan opened his mouth to talk, but someone interrupted. "Oh, Mio. I've been looking for you."

I looked over my shoulder, seeing Scott standing there, looking as uptight as usual. Logan growled, "What do you want Scott?"

"To talk to Mio."

"Dude, whatever happened to you, I swear, this time it wasn't me."

"No." Scott said, "It's not about any pranks. I just need a moment of your time."

"Fine." I mumbled, standing up and following him out of the garage.

He spoke quietly as we headed towards the mansion, not that it did any good. Logan heard anyways. "Mio, with Logan gone, I'm going to need a new danger room instructor."

"You can do that yourself."

"You're better at hand to hand combat, spying, natural instincts, survival, and not to mention, you have a devious talent for thinking up new danger room scenarios." He explained, "I'm going to need that, for our students."

"Then go grovel to Logan." I was getting pretty tired of everyone suddenly wanting my help. Usually people want nothing to do with me.

"I've tried to talk to Logan about this." Scott said, finally stopping in his walk, and placing a hand on my shoulder, "He refuses to reconsider. I need help Mio, and-"

"And you expect me to be like Logan. You expect me to want to naturally help people, sacrifice my soul for theirs, I know, I've heard his speech. Here's the thing Scott, I have a soul, or at least, I think I do. I'm not sure if a black hole qualifies. But I'm not Logan, boy scout. There's a reason why I call myself Hell Hound, and it's not because I'm one hell of a dog-feral fighter. It's because I look after myself first, and others second. I don't give a damn about you _Scummers_, so dig your own grave, and I'm gonna happily watch from the sidelines, maybe munching on some popcorn!"

I turned walking away, and then stopped, "Wait, no!"

I turned back to Scott, "Not popcorn, a candy apple! Oh great, now I'm hungry."

I walked back into the garage, "Give me one good reason why I should quit Young Justice and throw my lot in with you, a reason that doesn't pertain to family."

"Step up or step aside."

Good point.

"Alright Logan, what position you got for me at this school of yours?"

He grinned, "Japanese language and culture, and assistant danger room teacher."

I grinned right back, "You got it, I'll get my memories sorted out, and then I'll head out to join you guys.

**SEVERAL WEEKS LATER:**

As weeks turned into two months, Emma and I pulled through every crevice of my mind, bringing up every tampered memory until I vomited every day. Then I would sleep, and we'd start again.

I found out a lot about my real past, for instance, my father started coming around annually, on my birthday. He would always bring me a similar gift every year, several books. Most were in the English language, one with in Japanese, and all the others were in varying languages of Spanish, Italian, or French. One was even in Persian. Whenever I got a book in a language I didn't know, my father would expect my mother to teach me the new language, and for me to have mastered it by the time he came back, and memorized the book.

Once, he came around on a date that wasn't my birthday, and he only said ten little words to me, "Go to your room, I must speak with your mother."

I went to my room, and heard them arguing in a language I didn't know. Once my father left, I came out of my room, and same my mother, sitting at the kitchen table, crying.

I tried to comfort her, but she simple brushed me away, telling me she just needed to be alone. The next morning, my mother seemed to have aged over night. She told me my father had requested she teach me to fight.

She had revealed to me a treasure I never knew she had, a sword. It was a beautiful katana, traditionally crafted, with black cord wrapped around the handle as decoration. It's guard was iron, twisted into a circle that looked like the body of a dragon, circled around the collar.

I had been ecstatic, and had loved the art of swordsmanship. My mother proved to be a master at the art, and looking back at those memories with my now trained eye, I could easily tell that her fighting style was a traditional Japanese samurai art, Mugai-ryu. And over two years, I also became a master. What my father said to me when he came back for my birthday once I had mastered it, I now remember.

_Father finally nodded, retracting his claws as I panted, still holding my sword tightly, my stance not wavering. It could be a trick, and I didn't want to risk another injury. My healing factor had already healed the lacerations dealt out to me by my father's claws, but the memory of the pain still lingered._

"_You're base is flawless, you're balance is constant, and you're cutting angle stays the same basic width. You're strategizing could use a little work, you should think about using the environment to your advantage."_

_He walked over to me as my mother watched warily from the sidelines. She had never injured me while sparring with me herself, and it was clear she didn't approve of my father's rougher was. I slowly let my weapon drop as my father came to a stop in front of me. He held my gaze for a moment, before letting a small grin rest on his face. "Never the less, it's only taken you two years to master this style."_

_He put a hand on my head, rustling my long black hair, "It's a good start, and I am proud of your progress."_

Only now do I realize, he never once said, _"I'm proud of you."_

I now remembered that I had grandparents on my mothers side. I remember my grandmother, I called her Uba. The Japanese word for Grandmother was Sobo, but it was very formal, and we were a fairly informal family, so I used the Japanese word for Nanny, which was Uba. Likewise, the Japanese word for Grandfather was Sofu, but I used the informal word, Oji, meaning Granddaddy.

Their memory was probably erased to keep me from returning to Japan. Why? At the rate this mind purge is going, I'll probably never know.

_I was nine._

"_Mother?" I asked, trying to practice my English, "Did you call me?"_

_Of course she called me. I could hear better than a dog, and I knew damn well she called me._

_She nodded, holding up a basket, "Take this down to your grandparents, won't you?"_

_The frown I seemed to constantly have on my face disappeared, replaced by a rare grin. I had grown bitter as the years past, angry at the racist people in my village, angry that my father hadn't seen fit to recognize my potential and take me with him to the empire he was helping build._

_But a visit to Uba and Oji? Nothing could get my spirits up more than that. I took the basket from her, "Alright mother."_

_I took off towards town, running down our hill and towards the three mile long trek into town. Long ago I had built up my stamina to run the entire three miles without rest, at my top speed._

_Once my training had begun, I had discarded the now useless Kimono the women and girls in my village wore. It just seemed to be impractical for fighting and running and jumping and climbing. How my mother managed to still wear one while she fought was beyond me, but I chalked it up to my mother being an absolutely flawless woman._

_I now wore what most men and boys in my village did in informal occasions, trousers and a t-shirt._

_I got into town, and went into my grandparents house. Their front room doubled as a charm shop. My grandmother always said she was in touch with the spirits, that they spoke to her, and she would listen. She sold magic charms in her story. She didn't read people's futures, but every now and then she would just burst out in a weird voice, and rattle off something weird like, "Rains of sorrow wash over Shika Aburame tonight."_

_She said it was predications, but I never bought much into supernatural things._

"_Uba!" I greeted, running into the shop."_

_She smiled, hugging me, "Hello Mio, how is my favorite Granddaughter?"_

_I smirked, "As far as I know, I'm your only granddaughter. And it better stay that way."_

_She laughed. "Shino, Mio is here!"_

_My grandfather walked by the entrance to the shop, and gave me a little nod, "Mio, is your mother well?"_

_I nodded, "Yes, she got over her cold last night."_

_He walked away. My grandfather never talked to me much, and I could smell, every time he was around me, all the indifference he felt towards me. But then again, my grandfather felt indifferent to just about everybody. Except my grandmother, and my mother._

"_Uba?" I asked._

"_Yes?"_

"_Why doesn't Oji love me?" I was very used to villagers not liking me, and even openly stating that they hated me, but in my opinion, family should stick together, and care for each other. I was so naïve back then._

_Uba wrapped her arms tighter around me, "Your Oji is a very serious kind of man. In his eyes, no love is freely given, regardless of blood ties. One day, he will see how great you are, and he will love you."_

"_So I have to earn his love?" Just like father._

"_I'm afraid so my love."_

I snapped back into reality, grabbing the trash can and heaving into it again. Once my stomach was emptied, I trembled a little, "Well, that was when I was nine. We must be getting close now, right?"

Emma put a hand on my shoulder, rubbing little circles into the muscle. "Do not push yourself so hard. Why don't you simply ask your father what happened?"

"One, I hate the bastard, and as far as I'm concerned, he's Donna's problem now. Two, there's probably no way he'd ever tell me the truth." I explained, "Alright, so now we know my Oji was a bit of an asshole. Next memory?"

She shook her head, "No more today, your mind is weak enough. You mind is beginning to blur reality with illusion. I recommend a good night's sleep."

I nodded, "You got it."

**LATER THAT NIGHT:**

"I told you Conner, I'm going as fast as I can with this mind revolving thing, but it takes time. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I'm sorry. I just miss you baby."

"You sound like a star struck teenage girl."

"You know you love it when I get all girly over you."

"… It has it's appeal from time to time."

"Uh, babe? Is Logan within earshot?"

"No."

"Good. Damn I miss you so much, the second I get you home… Ugh, you have no idea what I wanna do to you."

I bit my lower lip, not sure what to say. Me and Conner may have been living together, but all we've ever done is French a little. Did I want to take that step with Connor? Well, he was a very attractive boy, and he was all mine. But was I ready for it? "I miss you too. Get condoms."

Step up or step aside, right?

I could hear him choke a little on the other line, "Oh, okay. You got it babe, the second you get home."

I laughed a little, "I gotta go Conner, this telepath stuff takes a toll on my mind."

"Well, when you get home I'll give you a head to toe massage. You just gotta get home."

"With promises like that how can I stay away? I seriously do have to go though, I'm beat."

"Alright, love you babe."

"… uh."

"…Mio?"

"I love you too."

I hung up right then and there. I don't know, I'm sixteen for the love of God, I don't know what love is!

I went into a deep sleep, for the first time in weeks. I had the weirdest dream ever though.

_I curled up beside a small fir, my head on my father's lap, drifting on the edge of a dream. My father ran his fingers through my long black hair, "Father?"_

_He sighed, "Yes?"_

"_Where is Mommy?"_

"… _Go to sleep."_

_I curled up closer to him, using the muscle of his thigh as a pillow. "Yes Father."_

It sickens me how obedient I was to him. Of course, back then I hadn't known him as a psychopathic, sociopath with a long history of uncalled for violence. He had probably seemed like a loving father, because I hadn't known what one was supposed to be like.

_He ran his hand through my hair again, and then did something very un-Daken like._

"_Nenneko, nenneko,Nenneko yo !Oraga akabo noNeta rusu ni,Azuki wo yonagete,Kome toide,Aka no mamma eToto soete,Aka no ii-ko niKureru-zo !"_

_I hummed at the familiar lullaby, and began to get tired._

"_Nenneko! nenneko!Nenneko yo !Oraga akabo waItsu dekita ?San-gwatsu, sakura noSaku toki ni :Dori de o-kao gaSakura-iro."_

"Nenneko, nenneko, nenneko ya !Netara o-kaka e tsurete ina !Okitara gagama ga totte kama !"

I jumped awake, panting. This is pathetic. Of all the horrible nightmares I've had of Daken, ones where he tortured me, kills my mother in front of me, drags me to Hydra, or the oddest one, he makes me look into a mirror, and all I see is his face.

But, this recent nightmare, dream, whatever it is, Daken singing a nightmare to me? Yeah, that's the scariest thins I have ever seen.

My phone suddenly beeped, showing I received a text. I opened it, it was from Donna.

Need your help. Daken is gone.

That asshole.


	43. Closure

Donna opened her apartment door, "Alright blondie, where's the kid?"

Donna raised an eyebrow at me, not sure if I was serious, "It takes nine months Mio."

"I was talking about Daken." I spit on the sidewalk, "That asshole."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on in."

I walked into the apartment, "I'm telling you Donna, point me in the direction, and I will _kill _that bastard!"

"Keep it down, I have neighbors."

"This is LA, if these people really live here, then they've over heard worse things than a murder plot." I snickered, collapsing down on the couch. I rode a motorcycle, from New York to LA. In leather pants. My ass is on fire.

Donna looked me up and down, "In uniform? Don't you own civies?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not that great keeping up with my own laundry, this was one of the cleaner outfits I have."

"You've lived alone for nearly a year, and you haven't learned to keep up with your own laundry?" Donna asked, sitting down in an armchair across from me.

"Conner usually takes care of the housework, that's what boyfriends are for, right?"

She shook her head, "Mio, you're grasp on stereotypes is severely lacking."

I rolled my eyes, "Alright Donna, you called me down here, how do you want me to do it? I don't exactly have the Maramusa Blade, but there are other ways to kill our kind. Heavy poison will do it, but being able to administer it is tricky, if I shove eight pounds of heroin into his arm, he'll probably just cut off his arm before it spreads. If I try and burn him in a hellfire inferno, I'm not sure how I'll keep him in place, cause whatever rope I use will burn faster than his bones."

Donna held up her hand, "Mio, I don't want you to kill him."

"… What?"

"I don't want you to kill Daken." She explained. "If he's not enough of a man to step up and take care of his own child, so be it. The only reason I called you down here is…" She looked away, her calm poker face fading a little to show just how uncertain she was of herself, and her future. "I'm not sure I can do this alone."

Suddenly, I realized that even though I was a veteran at cleaning up after my father, this war was totally different then all the other ones of his I've ran into. This time, it isn't about revenge. It's about damage control, and I've never been to good at that.

Donna sighed, "I'm not afraid of child birth, I've gone through enough pain in my day. It's just that… I know that whatever it is, boy or girl, there's a high chance that it's going to have… different issues once it gets older. I can't count on Daken to be around to coach my kid through those issues, and I really don't want to call up an old man I hardly know."

That's not true, you just don't want to betray Daken by calling Logan.

"Why do you still care about him Donna?" I asked. "I mean, he knocks you up, drags you though all kinds of hell, and you still don't betray him. Why? That's not _just crazy_, its… sociopathic."

She smiled, just a little. "No, it's completely normal, as normal as people like us can get. Why does anyone stay in a relationship that's destructive? The answer is cliché, but completely true. Love. All we want as humans, no, and people, is love. Love that's worth more than money, or fame, or a promotion to Director of the FBI…"

Damn, Donna was married to her work.

"All we want in a relationship is someone we can fight with like crazy-"

"Then have the kind of make up sex that makes your left side go numb." I said dreamily.

"Exactly!" She said, one hand on her tiny stomach bump. "Someone who will go to court for you, and _lie_.

"Someone who comes off as completely _impossible_, yet totally _sexy _at the same time." I groaned, thinking about Connor. "Someone who would kill for you, not very well, but they'd put in the effort."

"Someone you can be with for fifty to sixty years, until one day you're both sitting on the porch of your house together, in the house you bought-"

"And you both get a heart attack and die." I laughed a little, "Daken dying from a heart attack. Lame ass way to go. Still, if it happens, I'm putting that on his gravestone, just for the sake of him flipping me off from Hell."

Donna stared at me a moment, "I'm going to get used to this eventually, right?"

"Haha, _no_."

"Right. But that's the thing about wanting love so bad, we'll stay with absolute idiots, for years. Trying to change them, trying to make them better, until we just give up, and we're left with three years of our life wasted, and we realize that Death do _not _give us rebates for wasted time."

I raised an eyebrow, "You have a very screwed up romantic past, don't you?"

She shrugged, "I wasn't always a stone cold bitch who didn't take any lip from anyone, no. I was a doormat, I let guys use me anytime they wanted, because my Dad never told me I could do better. But Daken is _not _going to do that to me. I'm not going to let this happen to myself again."

"Hmm, for the record, whatever the hell those evil men put you through, you have to admit, the results are turning out nicely." I pointed out.

Donna smirked, "Whenever a man hits on me now, I just take my gun out. They usually run away quickly."

Okay, I hate my Dad for _a lot of things_, I mean, he is a royal screw up. There is not one thing he has done all of his life without some double motive that benefits him. But tapping Donna… this is the only act of his I will ever condone.

Not even Scott could find fault with this, and Scott can find fault with _anything_. Donna is everything any man should be looking for. Pretty, smart, slightly psychotic, I mean, she's the whole package! Daken, I will never say this to your face, but… nice. Nice job scoring with this girl. This is the only sexual fling you've had since my mother that I approve of. Actually… no, I don't approve of you getting with my mother, you suck for that.

I stood up, "Alright Donna, I'll help you out with this kid. I'll stick around until you've popped the bun out of the oven, and you've gotten a handle on it, then I have to go back to New York. You can call me anytime you need to, and I promise to be there for all the important stuff in your baby's life."

She smiled, "You'll be the first to get a birthday invitation."

"Birthday? I'm talking about the four most important stuff, graduation, marriage, divorce, and funeral."

She laughed, "Thank you Mio."

I nodded, "I swear Donna, you're not going to be left alone to raise my little half sibling. I will be the coolest older sister, ever."

"Right after I get done killing Daken." I finished, heading for the door.

Donna groaned, "Really Mio?"

"Don't judge me Donna, this is just how my family works. We hate our fathers, and love our grandfathers. We swear to kill our fathers, and our grandfathers help us do it." I smirked, pointing at her baby bump, "And as soon as that kid turns nine, I'm teaching it Mugai-ryu."

"I don't even _want _to know what that is."

"Relax, it's just traditional samurai swordplay."

"_Just_?"

**SEVERAL HOURS LATER:**

I tracked him down to a bar on the edge of town. I could hear that bastard laughing from the parking lot. Even without my enhanced hearing I could have heard him. I walk in, and I see Daken across the bar, sitting on a couch with funny looking stains that I really don't want to see the history behind, a slut under one arm and a man-slut under the other arm.

He knows I'm here, he can smell me. But he doesn't look up at me, and I don't look up at him. I'm not here to kill him, for one thing it's to public of a place, and it would be to much trouble. For another, I actually have to be somewhere tomorrow, so me getting chained up in a rat infested cellar somewhere won't exactly _help _me.

But also because, I don't want to. It's not going to solve anything, it never has. Daken will just feed off of the hate and anger I physically throw at him, and all this will be for nothing. The only way I'm going to put Daken in his place is with logic and words he can't counteract, so that's what I'll do.

Just one problem, on the way over here I was so angry, I didn't exactly think of anything Oscar worthy to say, so this might take awhile…

I head to the bar, flash a fake ID, and order the strongest shot they had. Literally, those were my exact words. "Strongest shot you have please."

The barkeep stared at me, "Uh, darlin, you sure about that?"

"You know what? You're right. You've got one hell of a voice of reason." I flash him a smile, "_Six _of your strongest shots."

The grown men on either side of me start laughing, and the barkeep shakes his head, mumbling about stupid kids, getting drunk and taken home by pedo's, then hands me a tray full of shots, colored a dark red. "They're an original mix, I call them red dragons. It's just cranberry juice, mixed with sake and the strongest whiskey ever made. That I know of."

Red dragons? Ironic.

I throw one back, and it's probably the best drink I've ever had. I can taste the Cranberry juice, and the Sake, and the whiskey. The flavors combine and then separate over and over again in the most delicious way.

I couldn't help thinking about another red dragon I knew of. The story I told Lovette once, the one my mother told me about three times a week, the story that granted me my name.

"_In a far away land, there was a young boy, named Mio, who owned next to nothing, except his sword, and his love for his country. He wanted to go to war as a soldier, but he was to young. So he stayed in his home, and watched helplessly as the real soldiers failed to protect his beloved country, and a powerful emperor took over the land."_

_I smiled as Mom pulled the blankets over me, stroking my hair, "Why did the emperor take over the land?"_

"_Because, some people are evil, and will always want more power, this man was one of those people. He fell, just like all of those people fall. Anyone who goes down that road will fall."_

I threw a second shot back, and heard my father snicker from across the bar at the looks I was receiving from grown men. Looks of sympathy, pity, and awe. I mean, seriously? This stuff might be strong, and burn like fire, but these guys are acting like wussies.

_"After years of watching all the suffering the emperor put his country through, Mio had had enough. He was now a full grown man, and he felt it was his responsibility to save his country from any more suffering."_

I threw back a third shot.

_"So he took his sword, and carried it up to the highest mountain in Japan, and then knelt outside of a cave that the ancient dragon of Yamatai lived in. The dragon came out, and asked him why he came to his domain uninvited. Mio begged for forgiveness, and told the dragon all the suffering going on in his land. He then unsheathed his sword, and held it out to the dragon, and begged the dragon to teach him the secrets of the sword." _

I threw back a fourth shot, remembering now that when my mother taught me how to fight with a sword, I used to pretend that I was the Mio in the story. I would pretend that the great Red Dragon of Yamatai was teaching me to fight, so I could save many people and be a great hero.

_"After learning all he could from the dragon, Mio went back to his country, and then took out the entire army of the evil emperor by himself, and then killed the emperor. Years later, when Mio had become the emperor of the country he still loved, the dragon came to the palace, and demanded the heart of the princess as payment for teaching Mio to fight. Mio could not refuse, he had to be honorable, and pay his dept. So he grabbed his sword, and cut out his own heart, and gave it to the dragon, saying 'Here, the princes is in my heart' and then he died."_

I threw back the fifth shot, and the minute I did, I felt a sudden burst of pain in my head. I hissed out a breath, grabbing my head, and mumbling a curse in Japanese. This wasn't alcohol induced pain, this was a pain I had come to be very familiar with these past few months.

The pain of a memory clicking into place.

_I held my sword out in my stance, "Mama, tell me the story of Mio and the Red Dragon again."_

_She smiled, "Mio, you know that story by heart. But you always seem to think I named you Mio so you would be like the Mio from that story."_

_I looked up at my mother, lowering my sword slightly. "But, didn't you?"_

_She shook her head, "No, I never wanted you to be like Mio. Mio spent his life in service to his country, a slave to them, even when he ruled over them. The Great Red Dragon served no one, and answered to no one. He lived his life the way he wanted to, and even with Mio's greatness, the Red Dragon was still superior to him in every way."_

"_But Mama, the Red Dragon made Mio kill himself."_

"_That part of the story is more metaphoric. It is meant to mean, that even though the Red Dragon had the best of intentions teaching Mio, his teachings led Mio down the wrong path, leading Mio to cut himself down in the end. The Red Dragon most likely knew Mio would make this mistake, but knew that he would never be able to talk Mio out of it. Some mistakes in life, we have to make."_

_She knelt beside me, brushing my hair out of my eyes, "I want you to live your life as a teacher, someone who guides the way for others. A teacher who knows that sometimes, mistakes have to be made, and they will have great consequences, but the lessons learned from those mistakes will be the greatest lessons you could ever teach them."_

_She kissed my forehead, "Promise me Mio, that you will be like the Red Dragon, and not like Mio."_

_I stared right into my mother's eyes, "I'm sorry Mama, but I cannot. I want to be like Mio, a servant to my father."_

_I could see the hurt in her eyes, smell the sadness on her scent, but I hadn't cared at the time._

I stared down at the last shot, and felt a tear run down my face. Several of the men snickered, and one mumbled, "I knew she couldn't handle it."

I wiped the tear away, holding that little shot glass and looking into it. I mumbled to low for anyone but Daken to hear, "I am so sorry Mama. Of course I promise."

I threw the last shot back, and several women cheered through the bar, "Whoo hoo!"

The girl under Daken's arm clapped. "You go girl!"

"Damn, you take it like water!" The guy under Daken's other arm exclaimed.

Daken himself remains quiet, but I can _feel _him smirking, knowing what was probably an impossible feat to these people _is _like guzzling water for me.

I could feel a slight buzz from the alcohol, but it was gone in literally, three seconds. I love my healing factor, cause without it, I'd probably be stumbling drunk around this bar by now.

The man sitting on my left side leaned in, his leather jacket stank of sweat and urine, his teeth were yellow from cigarette smoke, and his ratty bandana had holes all in it. "Girl only gets that drunk when she's either looking to kill someone, or get laid."

He leaned in closer, breath tickling my ear, and breath making me want to hurl worse than Frost's mind probing did. "What'll it be babe?"

I turn to face him fully, and then out my curled fist up to the side of my neck, then popping my claws. The blades rip through my throat, tearing muscle and gushing blood all over my uniform. Damn. Maybe Donna will wash my clothes?

I retract my claws as he stumbles off the bar stool, falling on his ass, "I don't know, do I look like I wanna get laid by a gross old man with a pecker the size of a chicken beak?"

Nearly everyone in the bar screams, jumping up and scrambling over each other to get out. The bartender moves to do the same, but I point a finger at him, "No, not you."

He sinks to his knees, "Come on, don't kill me, I'm just the bartender!"

"Exactly, that stuff you just made me, put like, three or four bottles in a bag, I'm gonna need them later." I ordered.

He nodded, standing up shakily, "Uh, yes ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am, I'm not old yet. But for reasons you don't know, when I am old, I'm still gonna look like a smoking hot teenager."

Daken laughs, the girl under his arm is gone, but for some reason the guy is still there, his legs swung across Daken's lap, leaning into him. "See, you've got more of me in you everyday."

I stalk over to him, but turn to glare at his lap boy first, "The man whose lap you're straddling happens to be my father, who left my pregnant mother alone. He also just left the woman whose pregnant with my half sister and/or brother alone. We're having a family meeting here, so, if you don't mind?"

He shrugged, "Sure thing."

He walked out of the bar, and what I did next I am not proud of, but he was intentionally swaying his hips in a very flirtatious manner.

I stared at his ass as he walked out. Day-um!

My shadow of a conscious cried out. _Control your raging hormones!_

It' not my fault that I haven't had any action in two months, and call me crazy, but the guy kind of smells like Connor! But Connor's got an even better back view, if you know what I mean.

_Focus!_

I turn back to Daken, to see he was staring at that guys ass too. I don't know why but I hate my genetics even more now.

Daken smirked up at my glare, "Don't judge me, you were staring too."

I pointed at my face, "This is a disappointed look. This look is not for staring at a hot gay man's ass. In this day and age, I can't really blame anyone, male or female for staring at a gay guy's ass."

Daken chuckled, crossing his arms. "Yeah yeah. So what now, gonna scream at me? Claw my face? Cut off my balls? Hate to tell you this, but they grow back."

I don't want to know how he knows that. I keep glaring at him, not bothering to use my pheromones to cover up my real emotions, because at this point I don't care if he knows how much he has hurt me. I don't care that I just cried in front of him, and a whole bar. If I'm going to act strong and put on a brave face, it's not going to be for him.

I will never be strong for him again.

"I have nearly all my memories back."

"Oh?"

"Not all of them, but most." I can't help the anger coursing through me, wanting to hit him, bite him, make him bleed. I want to cause him pain, like he caused me my whole life. Not by abandoning me, but by abandoning me, and then coming back. Again and again. "I thought that… they would show me something important about you. Something that would change my opinion of you. I was right."

Daken sighed, "I couldn't be there to raise you, but I tried to instruct your mother on how to raise you to my expectations, and-"

"Stop making excuses, you bastard!" I cried, and I felt tears gather in my eyes. I don't care if I cry in front of him. My mother cried in front of him, and I can't look at her as anything but strong. I want to be like the Red Dragon. If I'm going to be a teacher, and leader, then I need to start here. "I don't care for your excuses, because I know the truth! All you ever wanted to do by ordering my mother around on how to raise me, was to turn me into your weapon."

The tears seemed to vanish, not even spilling over, they were just gone. New strength pumped into my blood, strength I didn't even know I had.

"You are a despicable excuse for a man- NO! That's not what you are. Your kind doesn't deserve excuses! You keep saying you hate yourself, that you want to change, get a second chance, prove that you aren't under Romulus' control, well guess what!? YOU ARE JUST LIKE ROMULUS!"

Daken stood up, popping his claws out and snarling, "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME!?"

"Sorry Daken, we're not going to beat the blood out of each other until one of us wins, you don't get to do that today. After everything you've ever done for me, you owe me this! The chance to tell you… how I feel."

Daken paused for a moment, and then laughed. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed. He finally sat back down on the couch, sheathing his claws. "Alright then cub, tell me how you, haha, _feel_!"

"You said you wanted to start over, and I'll admit, you deserved the chance to do that. After what Romulus did to you, you deserved a chance at a better life. But you screwed it up for yourself! Every chance you've gotten, you've ruined them, over and over again, on purpose! I've given you so many chances, since I first met you when I was a child, SO MANY! But just when I think that maybe, just maybe you have an interest in me, other than a weapon, you tear a little more of my heart out."

I can't help it, I let out a small sob, but I don't cry. "I don't need you to be my _father_. I know you're incapable of feeling that way towards me, but I still want you to respect me! I can't look at you as my father, not anymore. But I respected you. I really did. Even before I learned the truth about my past, I respected you! You're a brilliant Martial Artist, you're a genius, a master assassin, a pro at manipulation in every form. And every now and then, when it really counted, you would turn around, and you would save the day. With the Dark Avengers, in Madripor, even though it was a double edge sword, I respected you."

I ball my hands into fists, "But not anymore! After the shit you just pulled with Donna, I don't respect you _anymore_!"

He crossed his arms, "Do you really think I care?"

"I KNOW YOU CARE!" I roared, "As much as you try to deny it, there's four people whose opinions of yourself that matter to you. One of them is me."

I shook my head, letting out a bitter laugh, "I thought… I know you didn't love my mother. Whatever the hell happened between you two to get her to sleep with you, and have me? Love had nothing to do with it. But I know you love Donna. You'll swear up and down it isn't true, but you love her. I thought that this time, this one time, the simplest of things to do… that you would step up. That you would be the man I _know _you can be, the man my mother knew you _could _have been!"

He opened his mouth to talk, but I beat him to it, "NO! You don't get to defend yourself, you don't have the right! I told you, if you screwed up with Donna, that I was going to step in, and clean up your mess. But I'm not going to be like my mother! I'm not going to let you decide what this kid learns. Donna's baby will be nothing like you, and I'll make sure of it. I will spend my whole life fighting against it! You are never allowed to see Donna again, or her baby! You had your chance, and you screwed it up, _again_! So no, you're not getting another chance, ever!"

Daken growled, "You can't keep me away from my own kid-"

"It's not your kid! Not after you ran away, again! You criticize me for running, but all you do is run! I learned how to run from you, because the minute commitment pops up, you run! And because of you I was afraid to love someone. I was so afraid of getting hurt, that I ran from Connor." I took in a shaky breath, "I'm not running anymore. Never. Never again. I'm _not _going to be like you, _anymore_. Logan always told me, step up, or step aside, well guess what, you stepped aside! So now I've gotta step up, asshole!"

I turned away from him, walking to the bar, and grabbing the bottles of red dragon. "I'm going to be what my mother always wanted me to be. Nothing like you."

I tuck the bag under my arm, walking towards the door, but then I stop, because there's only one thing left to say. "And I know you aren't going to leave this alone. You'll track me down, find me again, and you'll try and put yourself back up as the alpha by slashing me up. But it won't work this time, because while you're attacking me, I'm just going to look in your eyes, and I know what I'll see there."

I opened the door, letting the cold wind outside bite at my face. "Regret. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but you'll regret the decision you made. You're going to regret that you weren't there for your new child. That you didn't hold Donna's hand threw these next few months. Not being there in the hospital. Not holding your child for the first time. You'll regret not being there what it calls you Daddy for the first time. The first time it smiles at you. And when I see that in your eyes, I'm going to smile at you. Just to let you know that I _was _there, and I'm _happy_."

I walked out, shutting the door behind me.

For the first time, in a very long time, I felt… good. And despite that good feeling, I could feel tears start to run down my cheeks. A huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I could help but smile a little as I looked up towards the moon.

My cell phone suddenly rang, and I smiled at the caller ID, "Hey Connor."

"Hey Mio, I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past hour, cause uh… well, I know you said Logan was out of ear shot during our last call…"

"Oh no."

"Um, well, he kind of came into our apartment, uh… well, here's what happened babe."

_Connor jumped up from his chair as the front door was kicked down, a raging made Wolverine standing there. "What the-? Uh, Mr. Logan?"_

"_Don't you Mr. Logan me bub." Wolverine growled, "You're pretty slick, I'll give you that. Moving in with my little girl, and conveniently not mentioning it to me, and somehow stopping her from telling me. Making sure I was out of earshot? Haha, you're smart. But you never once thought about your credit card record."_

"_Uh-"_

"_I had Kitty hack into your credit card record, and you won't believe what I saw there. You bought condoms."_

"_Now hold on, I know what you're thinking, but-"_

"_So after I saw that, I had her hack into Mio's phone record, and listened to every call you two have had." Logan popped his claws, a deadly glare coming onto his face, "I am not __**happy**__."_

"_Shit!"_

"So what did you do?" I asked. "Fly out the window?"

"Wow babe, you know me so well!" Connor laughed. "And right now, yeah I'm hovering about twenty feet above the ground, so he can't get me. Just one problem, he brought _friends_."

Damn you Logan. "How many?"

"Two."

"Describe them."

"One has a trench coat and keeps throwing exploding cards at me. The other one is dressed in the American flag, and he's throwing a weird shield at me." Now that you mention it, I could hear explosions and screaming in the background. Perfect.

Once again, damn you Logan.

"Throw the phone down to Captain America."

I heard the wind rush by the phone, until someone caught it, "Hello?"

"Hi Steve. Look, this is Mio."

"Oh, how are you?"

"I'm _delightful_. But if you guys BBQ my boyfriend, I'm really not going to be happy."

"He's your boyfriend!? Logan said he was some guy who kept sexually assaulting you at work."

Gambit took the phone from Steve, "Hold on petite, Ah get he's ya boyfriend an all, but dat bein' said, ya Uncle Remy needs ta teach him few t'ings 'bout physical contact."

"Remy, so help me God, if you do not leave Connor alone, I _will_ give Rogue the letters you never sent her."

"… ya wouldn't."

"Think about who you're talking to."

"Right, you got your Daddy's powers… and ya Grandpa's temper. You got it petite, we'll stop helping Logan scare ya boy toy."

"Thank you."

There was a long pause, until Connor took the phone, "Mio thank God! I love you so much, I love you so much, I love you _so much_."

"Calm down Connor. Look, some things came up, and I… won't be home for awhile."

"… How long?"

"I'm in LA, and I'm going to be here for about six to eight months." Donna was four months pregnant by my count, the two months Daken spent as a kid, and the two I've spent on Utopia X. Even after she had the baby, I was going to have to stick around awhile to make sure she had everything under control. "And I'd like you to come out here with me."

"Uh… I'll get out there as soon as I can babe."

"Thank you Connor. I have to go, I'll explain everything when you get here." I can't explain it over the phone, Logan was within ear shot.

I hung up, time to get back to Donna.

**I know, this was a LONG chapter, but it's also one of the best I've ever written. Your thoughts?**


	44. I'm Responsible For A Child Oh No

"So… Daken is having another kid?" Conner asked, eyes wide as he sat on Donna's couch, staring at her baby bump. "Your sibling?"

"Yep." I said, taking another swig from the bottle of red dragon.

"And you're going to move here to help raise it?" He asked.

"Temporarily."

"And you expect me to come with you?"

I took another drink, damn this stuff was good. "I don't expect you to do anything. I know you have a team to think of, I just wanted you to know where I am, and why."

Connor nodded slowly, "You've been away for months. I miss you."

"I know Connor, and I'm sorry, but I need to stay here."

"… I'm staying too."

I stood up from the chair, walking over and kissing him on the cheek. "I love you baby, can you do me a favor?"

He smiled as I sat down next to him, "Sure, what?"

I handed him the half empty bottle, "Take this away from me. I feel tipsy, and for a girl with a healing factor, that's not a good sign."

Connor took the bottle away, "Uh, Mio? I gotta tell you something."

I laid down on the couch, my head on his lap. "What's up baby doll?"

"Wow, you are drunk." He mumbled, "Uh, look, while you were gone… something happened."

I snuggled closer to him. "Megan and me, well… we were training and she… uh, she kissed me."

My eyes flew open, and I sat up, "What?"

He reeled, "Mio, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, and I swear, I stopped the kiss immediately, and it _never _happened again."

I laughed, "Ha, Connor, baby, that's cute, but we both know that would never happen."

Connor stopped, "Wait… what?"

I sighed, "Connor, in every relationship ever made, there's a reacher, and a settler. The reacher goes for someone way out of their league, and the settler settles for the reacher."

He stared at me, "So… you think I'm the reacher?"

"Connor, I _know _you're the reacher." I said with finality. "I'm just hotter."

Connor leaned away from me, "Uh, no, I'd say we're both about the same level."

I shook my head, "You are so naïve. I'm Japanese Connor, do you know how many guys a day fantasize about Japanese girls?"

He crossed his arms, "Mio, I'm spun steel, do you know how many girls a day fantasize about a guy with my build?"

"Connor, look at my nose." I pointed to the bridge of my nose, "This right here is a small little button of a nose, perfect for kissing."

Connor held up his hands, "Mio, my hands are huge."

Donna leaned back in her chair, rubbing my baby bump, "No, you will never be as crazy as her."

I stood up, "I've got a stomach flatter than a pancake."

He stood up too, "I've got a six pack!"

"I've got model legs that go straight up to my ass!"

He turned around, "My ass is better!"

"I can pull off the Japanese school girl look!"

"I can pull off the motorcycle gangster look!"

And thus followed the biggest fight me and Connor ever had as a couple. We started out talking about how hot we were apart, but then when we ran out of good points about our physical characteristics, we started making jabs at each other.

"You have a dinosaur head!" I yelled.

"Yeah, well you're flat chested!" He snapped.

"You're to tall!"

"You're to short!"

"You have the emotional set up of a new born puppy!"

"You aren't _funny_!"

"You're so desperate you make up stories about other girls kissing you so that you feel better!"

"You were afraid to try to get into a relationship with me, just because you know I'm hotter, and there would be hundreds of other girls fawning over me!"

We carried on like that for _hours_, with Donna just watching contently as we made total jerks of ourselves.

Eventually, I came up with an idea.

We were pretty much out of things to say, until I thought of the one thing a guy just can't out do.

"I can put my leg behind my head!"

Connor stopped arguing, "Wait… what?"

Donna finally spoke up, "Mio wins."

I threw a fist up into the air, "Yes! I'm the settler!"

Connor collapsed down onto the couch, "I'm the reacher?"

Donna shrugged, "Don't feel to bad about it, I was the reacher in me and Daken's very brief relationship. All it means is that you managed to improvise, and now you're tapping _that_."

Connor smirked, "You know what blonde lady? You're right."

Connor grabbed me around my waste, and kissed me. "I have the most amazing girlfriend ever… but seriously, that kiss with Megan really happened."

I laughed, pulling away from him, "Sure it did Connor. But Megan would never be that stupid, because she knows I'd kill her."

I turned back to Donna, "You're okay with letting us sleep on your couch?"

She nodded, "And I've got a futon in storage you can use if that's more comfortable."

Wow. I'm going to be helping to raise a kid. I really need to get my life in order. I mean, if I really stick around this kid, I'm going to be having late nights with it, bottle feeding, sitting through stupid cartoons like Umi Zumi, or Tele Tubbies. I'm going to have to argue with daycare people, and watch as this kids goes through like, five different sports, while showing no talent for them whatsoever. I'm going to have to clap when this kid strikes out at baseball for the fourteenth time in a row. I'm going to have to go to PTA meetings. I'm going to have to pay for windows broken with base balls, for vandalism to train cars… I have to endure the teenager phase, when all they do is yell at you, pop pimps, and make bad choices.

I'm beginning to see why Daken walked out. This is some scary stuff!

Mio, no! You are not backing out of this, or everything you've fought for these last few years, everything you told Daken at that bar, it will mean nothing.

Mama wanted me to be the Red Dragon, I can start by teaching that kid.

_But I can't raise a child! As big of an idiot as I am, I'm going to wind up forgetting to feed it or something! It'll go wander out into the road one day and we'll never get it back!_

What was I thinking!? I'm sixteen, I can't raise a child! I wanna go home! I want Logan! I want him to make me do overtime in the danger room! I want to fix motorcycles with him!

"Mio?" Donna asked, speaking up, "Are you okay?"

I shook my thoughts away, "Uh, what?"

"You just had this look on your face… it's the same one Daken had before he left." She explained, one hand over her baby bump.

I was actually considering leaving Donna? I am the most selfish person in the world. "I'm not leaving Donna, I'm gonna stick around, see how this kid turns out."

But I better put my past behind me first.

**TWO DAYS LATER:**

I sat in one side of the Catholic confession box, the holy man on the other side. "Bless me father, for I have sinned. I have spent the last six years, becoming a weapon, and killing innocent people. I hurt my adopted sister Lovette. I crushed my mother's heart. I was called a monster by my own father, who qualified as a demon from hell, so he really had no room to judge. I've lied, cheated, manipulated, been in fights and massacres that had nothing to do with me. I was in them just for the sake of killing and murder. I fell in love with a terrible person, who broke my heart, and I had the nerve to be sad for myself, with all the evil I've done. But I'd like to make amends."

Now this was LA, so Catholic Priests are very used to hearing _much _worse than what I just said. And no matter what sins you confess to, they're inclined to give you forgiveness, no matter what.

"God says all sins are forgivable, and once you are forgiven, that is the end. He forgets your sins, and never remembers. You get a fresh slate."

What a load of crap! Do you honestly believe an all powerful omnipresent being is just going to watch you sin, forgive you, watch you sin, forgive you, watch you sin, and then forgive you in an endless cycle? Sure, if you're really sorry, and you actually put forth all your effort into never doing it again, but if you just half heartedly ask 'forgive me' with no intention of really stopping, He's not going to even pay attention to you!

I wiped away sweat form my forehead, "Bless me father-" I grabbed the screen separating the two of us, smirking into the priest's face, "And don't mind the grin. I remember every kill, every sin over the course of my life. There was a family of Mormons, I killed all of them. A woman in Paris. A few kids in Japan, I'm not sure if I did it, but I might have. Memory isn't to clear right now. A man in London and his five year old niece. About eight people in Hong Cong, ages from mid thirties to about twenty, or even late teens."

He looked ready to scream.

"But I never practiced prostitution, ever!" I forced, "I killed a few, but I never did it. You live a life a chastity, and you must really look at scum like me, and wonder what snaps inside of us, what happens to us in our life that turns us into complete monsters. So bless me father, because I've sinned, and enjoyed every moment of it. I can still remember the blood, and the screams, and the animal inside of me lusting for blood." I stood up, turning my chair to face the little window, "So here we go again, I'm sorry. I'm a terrible person. In St. Louis, I kidnapped a girl and cut her head off, then sent a video of it to her parents."

"In Iraq, I played cards with the gaggle of mercenaries with shot guns. I caught one of them cheating, killed all of them, and strung their gizzards out on a clothing line for everyone to see. Fair enough, right?" I bit my thumb nail, "I think that at one of their funerals, I snuck up behind his now widowed wife, stabbed her in the back, and pushed her into the hole. Everyone just kind of ran away after that. My motto back then was to kill, live for the moment, and take my pleasures where I could."

I'm pretty sure he just urinated.

"And well, now I've decided that I'm done with all of that. So, even though our opinions on God are greatly varying, you're a holy man, and I'm responsible for a little child now."

"You are pregnant?"

"Nah, my dad knocked up another woman, then walked out on her. I'm gonna help her get back on her feet."

"I… see."

"Right so, I want to be able to stay with this little girl, give up my past, and just try and raise her the best I can. So, would you mind?"

"I'll offer up your apology to God."

"Thank you sir." I said, and left the booth. Now, I was completely serious about the whole life transformation thing, but I also loved making fun of church people. This whole 'modern Christianity' thing was just hilarious! I mean, that story about God fighting Satan wasn't even in the Bible. It was just a story that early Christians made up, so that they had someone to blame for babies dying, mass murder, and other tragedies. Instead of just blaming the dark nature of themselves.

Now, do I believe Satan existed? Yes, my grandfather was in Hell, being tortured by him for awhile. But did that confrontation between him and God over bowing down to Adam ever really happen? Nope.

Satan was never an angel, Satan in my opinion was just a physical manifestation of human sin.

People could chat my ear off about it however much they pleased, but modern Baptists preach about how the Bible is the one source of pure truth, yet they cling to a legend about Satan and God that isn't _anywhere _in the Bible.

Connor's voice broke through my thoughts. "Done?"

I turned to see him standing there, an ice cream cone in each hand. One was chocolate, the other mint chocolate chip. He held out the mint one, a small smile on his face.

I took it from him, offering him a small smile in return, "Yeah. I'm done."


	45. Father's Reflection

A dark figure sat in a nearly vacant bar, a collection of eighteen empty shot glasses and about thirty empty bear bottles strewn around him. Despite the obvious amount of alcohol he must have drank, he looked to be sober. He threw back another shot, not really caring his tab was rising by the nanosecond. All he really cared about was figuring out where he daughter's backbone had come from.

_"Stop making excuses, you bastard!"_

Little punk, thinking she could talk to him like that. Part of him was proud that he somehow managed to turn the little cowering ball of tears and running away into someone with _that _kind of spunk. A tiny part buried deep down by years of being manipulated by Romulus was proud of Mio for being able to go that distance. She had his blood running through her veins, and that made her able to do it, but her own constitution and will made her want to do it.

Daken had never had a fatherly feeling towards Mio. Not that he could think of. Well, maybe he did, but he couldn't be sure. He wasn't sure what it felt like to be a father. He never went through the traditional pace of being there when she was born, staying up all night to get her to go to sleep, or helping her with homework.

He hadn't even met her until she was four years old. By then she was already showing traits of him. Ear shape, eye color, hair color, even the way her hair grew was just like his. Apart from his being a natural mohawk that is. The direction it grew, nearly straight up, was just like his.

_Daken watched form a few feet away as Wild Child made his presence known to the girl. "Well, looks like the tiny ninja's tale ends here."_

_She stood straighter, immediately dropping the fake battle stance she had during her playing. "Who are you?"_

_That's when he saw her face for the first time. The minute he saw the similarities, the genetics screaming at him, every instinct in him shouted at the same time. PROTECT YOUR CUB!_

Maybe he didn't love her, but every parental instinct was there towards her. The only one allowed to hurt her was him, which was why he had destroyed her first relationship.

_The men Daken hired to attack Mio in front of her boyfriend, Jake, as they left the movies. He used his pheromones to cover his scent as he watched from several buildings over._

_The moment Mio sensed the attack, she moved to defend Jake. At first she simply used her bare hands to try and stun the men so she could flee with Jake. But once they broke out their swords and throwing knives, she had no choice._

_She popped her claws, and attacked the men in a fury that made his instincts nudge him at his core. She was his cub, part of his pack, and she was an admirable fighter._

_As the men lay dying at her feet, she turned to look at Jake, as he stood there, eyes wide, heart racing and fear dripping out of every pore. He was pathetic, and he was ashamed Mio had ever chosen a boy like him._

_Jake took a step back, "You're… you're a mutant!?"_

_Mio swallowed twice before responding, "Yes… but I'm not some crazy terrorist Jake, I-"_

_He didn't let her finish, he shoved her away, "Stay away from me, freak!"_

"_But-"_

"_You're lucky I don't set the cops on you, you monster!" And with that he ran away._

_For a moment, Daken considered killing the boy, because he could smell the hurt and pain on his cub's scent clearly. Someone had hurt his cub, and he should make sure it never happened again._

Daken threw back another shot. He didn't regret breaking up that relationship, even though Mio never found out who it was.

_An eight year old Mio beamed up at him as she showed him how her mother taught her to fight with her new sword. She idolized him in every way. To her, he was God._

The hell happened? He had her, under his thumb! It made him wish he never agreed to have her memory swiped. At the time, it was all he could do. But now he wished there had been another way. A way to keep his perfect soldier.

He had one, several chances, to be able to manipulate her back into his weapon. But she had grown to strong by the next time he found her. She knew how pheromones worked, and any attempt he would have made towards manipulating her, would have been met with a full on brawl from her part.

So he had tried to go about it the old fashioned way, and tried to fake his way into being her father figure. He had trained her on the Dark Avengers, and for a time she had started to see him like that.

But then Lester just had to ruin it, be to loud, and Mio went crazy.

He had taken it when she screamed at him for him never being there, not saying a word. And he had come to a decision right then and there.

His instincts had been screaming at him to comfort her, to protect his pack. But he had a different solution. If he couldn't turn her into his perfect soldier again… then he would unleash her upon the world as a plague.

He hurt her every chance he got, even snuck into her ridiculous school, and gutted her in front of her peers. He had smelled the fear coming off of them, but also the grudging sense of satisfaction. They hated Mio… they liked seeing her get what they thought was coming to her. He had nearly snapped then and there, and lash out at the children.

How dare they think of themselves as his cub's superiors? She was better than all of them. They weren't fit to breath the same air as her. She was stronger than them all, faster, smarter. And if they thought for one second that they were superior to her in any way, they were sorely mistaken.

Daken finally stood up, tossed his credit card carelessly down on the table, mumbling the code to the bartender, and left the bar.

**WITH MIO:**

I grinned at the photo, "Huh, a girl? That's irony in it's best form."

Connor smiled at the photo, "Fifty bucks says that she'll be blonde."

My grin got even bigger, "You're on. I say she's gonna have black hair, just like her favorite sister! Japanese genetics are _not _recessive."

The doctor nodded, wiping the goop off of Donna's belly, "She looks good. We'll have the tests done to see if she has down syndrome, or if she might be autistic."

Donna nodded, "Thank you."

Connor couldn't stop staring at the picture. "Hey, Mio?"

"Hmm?"

"You ever think about having kids?"

…

Donna stared at the two of us as I felt my eyes get wider and wider.

"… We haven't even had sex yet Connor…" I managed to mumble.

Connor grinned sheepishly, "I know… it was just an offhanded thought really. I guess I've been watching that sixteen and pregnant show to much."

"You watch that garbage!?" I hissed.

"No, Megan turns it on." Connor explained. "And there's only one TV, so I just go along with it."

"Well I'm not getting pregnant at sixteen Connor!"

"What about seventeen?"

"If you get me pregnant before I turn twenty-one, Logan will remove your manhood, and I'll let him!" I threatened.

Connor stopped talking.

**LATER THAT NIGHT:**

Connor walked in the door, holding three separate bags of beef jerky, "They didn't have Pepper Jack, so I got Teriyaki, Nacho, and Sizzling Sweet."

Donna groaned, "I guess they'll have to do."

This is one of the reasons I never wanted to get pregnant. Weird cravings.

Donna dug into her teeth aching meal, and I turned the channel to a UFC fight. James Hammortree? He looked pretty tough.

Connor settled down next to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and pulled me to sit in his lap and lay back against his chest. I felt his lips on my neck, kissing my gently as his thumbs traced little circles on my hips. "I love you."

I smiled at his statement, over the past few weeks it had gotten easier and easier to fall into these little moments. When Donna didn't need help, my instincts weren't shouting Kill everyone!, and most of all, Connor was in his puppy mode.

I let out a happy little sigh, running my fingers over his jean covered thigh. "I love you too."

Connor's little kisses trailed from my neck to my ear, where he gave it a soft little nibble than made me let out a groan. "Do you like that, baby?"

The doorbell rang before I could answer. I got up, despite Connor's protests, and opened the door a crack. I instantly wished I hadn't. Shit.

He glared at me, "Did you think I wouldn't come?"

"I kind of wish you hadn't so soon." I managed to mumble.

I looked back over my shoulder at Connor and Donna. Connor slowly stood up, recognizing the voice. He moved in front of Donna, silently asking me whether or not he should fly her out the window to avoid this man's wrath.

I shook my head, "I'm just gonna talk to him."

I opened the door wider, just enough for me to step outside, and shut it quietly behind me. "I can't let you."

He crossed his arms at me, "I'd like to see you stop me."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Look…. Logan, this isn't something that's up to me. It's Donna's baby, and she didn't feel right about asking you for help."

Logan sighed, "Mio, I trusted you. When you said it wasn't anything for me to worry myself with, I believed you. You have no idea how disappointed I am in you."

"Don't pull that shit with me Logan!" I snapped, "Donna came to me instead of you because that's what she wanted. I wanted to tell you more than anything Logan but…"

"But what?" He growled.

"… I don't wanna get beat up by a pregnant lady!" I hissed. "Donna is FBI, and she is insanely scary when she wants to be!"

He busted out laughing. "I… that's the best excuse I've ever heard! Haha!"

He turned to walk away, "Look, just keep me updated okay? And if it's okay with Donna, I'd like to be there when it's due time."

"I'll talk to her about it."


	46. Logan and Connor, Man to Man

So, I tried to get Donna to go to a birthing class. I mean, we were raising the next little Howlett baby. This kid was going to be wicked awesome. I could see her now, jumping around in an X-man uniform, claws slicing and dicing. And I already had so much planned! I could already see her watching hockey with me and Logan, dissing Megan constantly, calling Aqualad guppy, tripping Kid Flash, driving motorcycles, this kid was gonna be bad ass.

So I figured we should all make sure that we knew what to do should something happen.

Ya know what happened? Donna threw a lamp at me, screaming, "I AM NOT MY MOTHER!"

So me and Connor figured the best thing to do would be to just take the birthing class together, so at least we would know what to do.

We had to sit down on these mats, while a this lady started talking about fears. "Most expecting mothers have similar fears, something going wrong with the birth, not being a good mother once the baby is born, things like that. But right now, let's look into any questions and fears the men might have."

Connor raised his hand.

"Yes, young man in the Superman shirt." I needed to take Connor shopping.

"Uh, after the baby is born, does everything just... go back to normal?"

The lady smiled, "Ah, you're afraid that the mother of your child here, won't have any sex drive, right?"

I busted out laughing, while Connor's face turned fifty shades of red. "Guh, no, I-"

"It's alright." She assured, "It's actually a very common question. And let me just give it to you right out, you aren't going to have time for that. Between your work, the baby, showers, eating, and the precious time you have to sleep, you probably aren't going to be able to have sex... at least six months after the baby is born."

Connor's jaw dropped open, and I gave him a look. "You still want a baby?"

"... A little less now." Every soon-to-be Dad in there glared at Connor like he was a disease.

The woman just chuckled. "Tell me, how old are you two?"

"We're both sixteen." I answered. Well, Connor was technically about one...

The woman sighed, "I'll be honest, I don't support young pregnancy because it's just so hard, even for an adult. For a teenager, it's so much harder. Are you married yet?"

"No." Connor said. "Why?"

"It's just... young couples aren't likely to stick together. Pregnancy at such a young age puts a pressure that younger people can't deal with. I've never met a young couple that stuck together." She explained.

"I'm not pregnant." I said, and then looked down at my stomach, wondering why she would think that. Oh yeah... Donna's cooking gave me a little bit of a muffin top. Don't judge me, taking care of Donna doesn't leave much time for exercise! "We're just here because my dad left his pregnant girlfriend, so we're stepping up to help with the baby."

Every soon-to-be parent in there stared at us. The couple sitting next to us smiled, the woman said, "That's really responsible of you two. I was scared enough stepping up for my own... I don't know if I would have done it for someone else's."

The guy reached over to shake Connor's hand, "I'm Bill by the way."

Connor shook his hand slowly, "Connor."

"It's pretty great what you two are doing. So, are you raising it as your own, or just helping the Mom?"

"We moved in with her." Connor explained. "I don't know how long we'll be able to stay though, we live in Happy Harbor."

The woman raised an eyebrow, "You live together?"

I nodded, "For a few months now."

"And you're parents are okay with that?"

"My mom's dead, I told my dad to follow in her footsteps." I explain.

And then the stares got worse.

**LATER ON:**

Connor rode behind me on my motorcycle, arms wrapped around my waist, lips next to my ear, "Why can't I ever drive?"

"It's my bike." I argued.

"And you won't let me bring mine over." Connor grumbled.

"Donna is only allowed two parking spots." I snapped, pulling into the apartment's parking lot.

"I have other means of transportation."

"The space bike is out of the question."

"Damn it." He grumbled. "Hey, why did they all stare at us when we told them we were living together?"

"Society doesn't really approve of teenagers being in that level of a relationship." I explained, "They think it's trashy."

Connor followed me as I got off of my bike, "But, why would being in love be trashy?"

I felt myself tense as I heard that word, love. I'm still not comfortable with it. I took a quick sniff through my nose, and smiled a little at the familiar scent. "They don't consider people our age able to understand what love is."

Connor came up behind me, both his tree branch-like arms around my waist. His lips brushed against the shell of my ear, pressing a light kiss there. "I know what love is. Love is the feeling I get when I'm with you. The feeling that lets me know I would die for you, run across the world looking for you, go to Hell and back for you. Love is knowing that if anything ever happened to you, if anything ever took you away from me, I'd be a wreck."

I swallowed, uneasy, "Uh, Connor, maybe we should save this for another time-"

"And sometimes that love get's physical." Connor went on, "And when you're ready to take that step, I've got it covered."

He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, and fished around in it, pulling out a square foil package, "I'm pretty sure it's the right size."

I sucked in a breath through my nose, and let it out slowly through my mouth, "Connor... Logan is here."

Connor froze where he stood, "Uh... so I should... fly away?"

I rolled my eyes, turned around, and looked him right in his eyes. "No, idiot. You're going to stick your hand down your pants, grab your balls, and remind yourself you're a man. Then you're going to remember what kind of man you are, and that you're no one's whipped bitch. Not even Logan's. Not even mine."

Connor closed his eyes, took s deep breath, let it out, and then opened them. What he did next was something I've never seen anyone ever do in my life. He stood straighter than I've ever seen him stand before. He put an arm around my waste, dragged me to the front door of Donna's apartment, and stepped inside. "Hey Donna, hey Logan."

Donna looked up from her seat on the arm chair, rubbing her bloated stomach gently, "Hey kids."

Logan stood up from the couch, "Boy, maybe me and you need to have another talk."

Connor didn't back down, "I hope this talk doesn't end in you having to call two of your over powered friends over here to help you kick my ass, because you can't do it yourself."

Nice knowing you Connor.

As they went to take it outside, Donna turned to me, "Mio, can you grab the lemonade from the fridge, so we can sit out on the porch comfortably while we watch this show?"

"Okay Donna."

**THREE HOURS LATER:**

"Five more minutes, I would have had him." Connor growled as I slapped the ice pack onto his left eyes, masking the horrible looking bruise left by Logan's fist.

"Stop whining, you're the first boyfriend any of Logan's kids have had that ever stood up to him." I assured Connor, "In fact, I'm gonna text jubilee about this."

"I'm not whining." Connor whined. "I'm just saying, five more minutes, that old man would be out cold."

"Quit yer bawlin' boy." Logan snapped as he came back from the kitchen, a beer in each hand. He sat down on the couch next to Connor, "It was a damn good fight, and maybe-" he handed Connor one of the beers, "Maybe yer good enough for my little girl. Maybe."

Connor tore the top off the beer with his teeth, and chugged down a third of the beer faster than even I could have. He probably didn't even taste it. "I didn't do it to prove you to I was good enough, I know I'm not."

"Connor-" I started.

"Mio, stop trying to change my mind." Connor growled, "You're amazing, I'm pretty good. I get it, you're way hotter than me, and you're a better fighter."

I leaned down over the arm of the couch, and kissed his temple gently, "Yeah, but you're the much better person. I'll never be able to top that, no matter how much my girls grow."

Donna sighed, "We're out of lemonade."

I grabbed the keys from the coffee table, "I'll go pick some up, you need anymore beers Logan?"

"Nah, I'm good fer the night darlin."

"Okay."

**WITH CONNOR:**

I zoned in on the sound of Mio, driving off on her motor cycle, as she got farther and farther away. Logan shook me from my thoughts with his words, "So, I suppose you're gonna leave her broken, depressed, leave me to clean up the mess."

I glared at him over the top of my beer, "The hell?"

"The only boy she was ever into, I thought I scared him straight, made sure he wouldn't hurt her. But the little bastard went and broke her heart anyway." Logan explained.

I set my beer down on the coffee table, looking Logan straight in the eye, "I'm not going to hurt her. I'm in love with her."

"So was the other boy." Logan shrugged off.

"No, he only loved part of her. I love all of her, ever single part." I explained.

"You think you love all of her." Logan said sadly, "And I'll admit, you must love an awful lot of her. But Mio's got more layers than an onion. You love the part of her that helps strangers, that protects her family, that shelters people, and tries to do good to make up for past wrong. But there's more to her, there's still a part of Mio that will never be sorry for what she's done. There's still a part of her that lusts for blood, any blood, and all blood. It'll never go away. She'll get better at controlling it, but it'll always be there. Can you really love that part?"

I shook my head, "I don't love that part, but I accept that's it's there, and I try to help her with it. She hates it, she works against it every day, and I know she'll always win."

**WITH MIO:**

"Anything else dear?" The cashier asked.

"Nah, I'm good. But a little warning, some baby spit up on aisle eight." I laughed.

She sighed, "One thing after another around her, never does end."

"That's life, you take what you get, and you get ready for more." I said, shrugging.

She handed me my receipt, "Well, thanks' for coming in dear."

Someone put a hand on my shoulder, "Hey are you done? I've gotta get home."

I turned my head to hand a world of kicked nuts to this guy, but the second I saw his face, I just wanted to run and hide. "Jake..."

His eyes widened, a smile spreading over his face, "Mio! Hey, I haven't seen you in forever! I told Amber I've been wanting to see you, did she tell you yet? Cause I've just really been wanting to tell you how sorry I am about what happened between us."

Each tiny word hit my ears like a bullet, slowly turning me into a pile of pain and hurting. How could he say that? How could he just show up after the years it took me to pull myself back together, and just say that he was sorry? How can he!? He doesn't even know what I went through, how that pain made me strong, but put up walls that Connor had just barely been able to climb over.

"I'm sorry too."

"Well great, because there's a diner not far form here-"

"No, you don't understand. I'm sorry that you shallow personality and misplaced hatred cost you the best thing that you could have ever had. I'm sorry you screwed up your chances with me. But you don't get another chance." And with that, I walked away.


	47. Mio's Choice

Jake watched Mio walk out of the store, not looking back at him. The cashier smiled at him, "Sorry son, I think you missed out on that one."

"Don't count on it." He mumbled, setting down his items and paying quickly. As soon as his deli sand which was paid for, he dashed out after Mio. He saw her at a distance, driving off on her motorcycle. "Hey, wait-"

A hand shot out and grabbed him by the neck. Before Jack could thrash around, or try and fight back at all, he was shoved back against the brick wall of the grocery store. "Get off-"

"Don't try and order me around _boy_." Daken snarled. Jake's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He didn't have any idea who this guy was, but he could see an obvious resemblance between him and Mio. Namely, the eyes. Daken's hand tightened around his neck. "I thought I scared you off years ago, and for good reason! You're a pathetic shell of a man, you're even lower than a boy, you might as well be a little girl."

Jake gasped for breath, "P-please… don't-"

"You can stop your begging, it won't do you any good." Daken smirked. "If you won't stay away from her, then I'll keep you away."

"N-no…"

"This is for my cub." Daken snarled, and a quick snikt was the last thing Jake heard, before his blood painted the parking lot. Daken stepped over Jake's body before walking over to his convertible. "She deserves better than you."

**WITH MIO:**

Donna sipped her lemonade contently, watching some crime drama she had recorded. "You go Casey, show that judge whose boss!"

"Do you do anything not related to your job?" I asked.

Donna looked at me, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, all the shows you watch, the books you read, they're all about crime, and always from the point of view of the law." I pointed out. "I get that you love your job, but I think you're taking it a bit far."

Donna was silent for a moment, before sighing. "My dad was a cop. And after that, a Prosecuting Lawyer. He was married to the job, and groomed me for it too."

Starting to regret bringing this up. "Oh…"

"He had his heart set on his little girl following in his footsteps. When I was in middle school, he starting going over cases with me after my homework was done." She turned back to the TV, watching the red headed lawyer talk to some bald guy with an obvious military build and a light New Yorker accent.

"So, what happened?" I asked.

She turned back to me, a bit surprised that I continued the conversation. "What do you mean, what happened?"

"Why aren't you a lawyer?"

"Oh." She mumbled. "Well, he got into a divorce with my mom, married another woman almost immediately, and she had a nine year old son. My dad had joint custody, so I was over at his new house every other week. But he never talked to me about cases again, and I found out why three months into it.

"He had stopped thinking about me being his successor, and put those hopes and dreams into his new son. He wasn't even his blood, and suddenly Dad was all excited about this kid being the new lawyer of the family. He was going over cases with him at night. I tried to join in a few times, but Dad never seemed interested in my input on the case. Sometimes he flat out just told me to leave him and his oh so perfect new son alone."

"In those words?"

"I might be exaggerating a bit." Donne confessed. "But at the time, and even now, that what it felt like."

"I don't get it." I admitted.

"What's not to get?" Donna snapped. "My dad gave up on me. End of story."

"No I mean, if you really liked the idea of being a lawyer, then why give up on it just because your dad discouraged you from it?" I asked.

Donna shrugged, "I got pissed after I realized why he was doing it."

"Because he was a sexist asshole/terrible father?" I offered.

"Pretty damn much." Donna grumbled.

"But why get pissed, an give up?" I pursued. "Why not get pissed, and get more passionate? He didn't believe in you anymore, so what? If that was what you loved doing, then do it. Be a great lawyer, be better than your step-brother, be better than your father ever was! But don't give up just because your dad doesn't want you to do it."

Donna sighed, "I guess… I switched from lawyer to FBI agent because I wanted to outrank my dad. And now I do. Pretty much shoved it in his face about five Christmas' ago that I was doing things far more important than he was. He kicked me out, never spoke to him again."

"… Did he ever tell you why he stopped wanting you to be a lawyer?"

Donna nodded, "He said it was because I never really showed any sign I wanted to be like him. I didn't get it… I still don't. Just because I didn't want to be just like him doesn't mean I didn't want to be a lawyer."

Donna looked down at her empty lemonade glass, and then handed it over to me. "It ain't gonna fill itself."

"I know, fine, woman." I got up, walked into the kitchen, and filled her glass with more lemonade. I really wanted to spit in it, but if she found out, I would be dead.

I walked back into the living room, handing Donna her glass and settling back down on the couch. Now the red headed lady was talking to some chick named Olivia about how the victim was also partially to blame for the rape occurring, and that she didn't feel sorry for her.

Bad ass bitch, saying that to a cop from SVU.

"Have you ever been in a situation like that?" Donna asked.

"I stop rapes, I don't stick around through trials." I brushed off.

"That's not what I meant."

"I figured not, so what did you mean?"

Donna rolled her eyes, "I mean, have you ever been in a situation like I was with my dad? I mean, he thought I didn't wanna be a lawyer just because I didn't wanna be like him."

I stared at Donna for a minute, before sighing. "Yeah, I have."

I stood up, walking across the living room to the sliding glass door of the balcony. I slide it open, seeing Logan there, smoking a cigar. I closed the door behind me as I walked up next to him, just standing there in silence as I tried to find the right words.

"Look, Logan-"

"It's okay." He interrupted me. "It's okay for you to not want my job Mio. I'm proud of you, no matter what you wanna do. Hero or no hero."

I shook my head, "Logan, I _do_ want your job."

He raised an eyebrow, "You sure about that Darlin?"

"Absolutely sure." I stressed. I _want_ to be like you more than anything I've ever wanted. I just… I know that deep down, I could never be you."

"That's the trick to it." Logan explained, flicking out his cigarette. "I'm not asking you to be me, I'm just asking you to look after the Jean Grey School when I'm gone. And your siblings, Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee, all of them."

He smiled at me, messing my hair up by ruffling it gently. "I'm not asking you to be Logan Howlett, I'm asking you to be the Mio Howlett that I've raised for all these years. And don't even use your past as an excuse; I've worked all that out of you. You've earned your happiness, tenfold. I'm proud of you."

I felt tears well up in my eyes at those last few words, but I blinked them all away. "Logan… I think I'm more than ready to take over for you. If you die before me, I promise, I won't let the school fade away, and I'll keep our… special, family in line the best I can."

He chuckled, "You sure you're ready to take on that level of impossibility?"

"You made sure I was, didn't you?"

"Good point." He accepted, and pulled me into a brief hug. When he pulled away, he continued, "Now, about that boyfriend of yours-"

"Ugh, Logan, don't-"

"I think he's a great kid." Logan finished.

I froze, "Wait, what?"

"I like him." Logan shrugged, "I think he's good for you. And… I don't think he'll hurt you. I just need to know, you and him are both heroes. And you're both very good at what you do. If you two work out, and you end up married, you realize the complications?"

"Not sure what you mean."

"Does he want kids?" Logan asked.

Oh, so that's where this conversation's going. "Yeah."

"And how does that work out when Mom and Dad are off saving the world? And with your family, that kid would be under attack from day one. Not to mention, Connor might look like a seventeen year old, but he's only a year old." Logan explained.

I was silent, "Logan, look, I don't even think I want kids. And if the day comes when I do have a kid, I'll…I'll retire."

Logan raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"No." I said bluntly, "I'll figure something out… maybe call in favors from Donna, have the crazy FBI Agent babysit whenever Mom and Dad go to save the world. Or maybe just drop the kid off at your school, and then go kick villain ass."

Logan nodded, "Alright, just as long as you know."

I went back inside, and Donna smiled at me. "Not gonna make my mistakes, huh?"

"Nope. And apparently, Logan has told you _far_ too much."

Donna shrugged, "What can I say? I'm a lovable baby momma!"

I left the living room, walking into the nursery. A smile snuck onto my face as I settled down next to Connor on the pallet we had set up in the baby's room. It was a couple thick blankets piled on the floor, next to the crib. Connor had painted the walls soft lavender, and I had plans on painting a mural on one of the walls. I just couldn't decide whether I should go with an American themed one, like Wizard of Oz, or something like Merida from Brave. On the other hand, I could do something Japanese, to remind her of her heritage. I could do a Kio fish, or a samurai. Donna said she didn't care, just to make sure it was appropriate for a baby girl.

Connor wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. His lips brushed against my ear, pressing against it lightly as he mumbled a soft, "I love you."

"I love you too." I whispered back. Every time I said that, it was like a little bit of my pain went away. The relief I got from being able to finally say what most people say every day was the greatest feeling on Earth.

Logan was sleeping on the couch tonight, and Donna was in her room. The baby wasn't due for another two months, that's what the doctor told us.

Connor pulled me closer. I could feel every muscle line against his stomach pressing against my back. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I couldn't help that Connor was so damn hot! If Logan wasn't a few doors down then I might end up losing my V-card in a nursery.

I was jolted out of my happy thoughts by someone ringing the doorbell. "The hell?"

"Mio, don't answer it!" Donna called from down the hall. "It's probably church people!"

"At this time of night?" No way." I mumbled, pushing the blankets off and trying to sit up, but Connor tightened his grip.

"Don't get up babe."

I rolled my eyes, "Connor, let go."

"Nope!" He laughed, nuzzling his nose into the crook of my neck. "I will never let you go."

"Mio. It's cold out here. Open the damn door."

Connor and I both shot up out of bed, running out of the room to be met in the hallway by Logan, claws drawn, and Donna, gun drawn. We all rushed in front of the front door, and Connor took a shield from his back pocket, about to put it on his arm, but I stopped him.

He looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "But, it'll even the playing field… I wanna help fight."

"You don't need it." I said, taking the shield away from him and tossing it away. "You're strong enough without it."

"Mio. Seriously. It's. Cold." The voice snapped, and I stepped forward slowly, claws on my right hand drawn as I opened the door with my left.

Daken Akihiro stepped in.


	48. Labor and Pissed Pants

Donna cocked her gun, narrowing her eyes, "Daken."

Daken looked... sad. "Donna..."

BANG!

Blood exploded over the wall and me, Daken falling to the ground and holding his jaw to stop the bleeding. I turned around, seeing Donna, who was grinning like a maniac. "That's for leaving."

Daken cough up blood as his jaw started to snap back together. "Donna, I'm so-"

BANG!

"And that's for coming back!"

BANG!

"That's for saying my cooking sucked!"

BANG!

"That's for never getting me the right beef jerky!"

Donna tried to fire into Daken again, but the gun just clicked, probably jammed. Donna shrugged, and in all her pregnant glory, hit Daken over his wounded head with it, again and again.

"That's for lying to me!"

Connor reached out, grabbing Donna and pulled her away from Daken's corpse. "Donna, stop it! You'll stress out the baby!"

Donna took a few deep breaths, and Logan stepped forward, nudging Daken's head with his foot, "Boy, how much time do you need to sit there and catch yer breath? A lot of people wanna kick yer ass right now."

"... ugh." Daken mumbled around vocal chords with bullets in them.

"I call dibs on the punching bag next!" I said enthusiastically.

"Don't... wanna fight." Daken sputtered. "Talk... Mio."

I raised an eyebrow, "You want to... talk to me?"

He nodded wiping the blood away from his mouth as best as he could. "Yes. I need to talk to you."

I raised an eyebrow, looking from Daken to Logan. Logan shrugged, "Your decision."

"Forget it."

_Promise me Mio, that you will be like the Red Dragon, and not like Mio._

Mio held grudges, the Red Dragon didn't.

I took a deep breath, glaring at Daken as he managed to stand, eyes on Donna's belly. "Daken. Get out on the porch. I'll give you three minutes. Three. Minutes. To say whatever you need to."

Daken nodded, walking out onto the porch. I turned my attention back to Donna, who had preoccupied herself rubbing her own belly. She looked up at me, "Mio, why can't he just leave?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. But I promise, if he starts talking some bull shit, I'll cut off his balls, and give them to you for Christmas."

She laughed, settling herself down on her LazyBoy chair. "Thanks Mio."

I nodded, and walked out onto the porch.

Daken seemed different, I'll admit to that. I still didn't like talking to him alone. Regardless that Logan and Connor were most likely listening to every word of this conversation, ready to intervene at any given moment, I felt like I was still totally alone with him. Odd thing was, I wasn't scared. He wasn't controlling me anymore, ever since I stood up to him at that bar, I was in control of my own life. It was amazing.

He leaned against the railing, looking out into the night sky. I'm not sure what he was looking at, there were no stars at night around LA.

For a long time he was silent, just starring into the sky and not even looking at me. Maybe he was thinking of ways to get me back under his control, maybe he was just trying my patience, get me to talk first, put the ball in my court.

"So, Red Dragon, huh?"

I'm not going to humor that with a response. He can play games all he wants, but I'm not getting drawn into them again.

"You're really angry at me." He finally said. Guess my scent gave that away. I kind of missed those days when we would just slug it out. He would make snarky little remarks about me, my fighting, my cowardice, drive me insane. This was so much different, this was a one on one conversation. I was expected to _talk _to him. And be civil, mature. Guess I better get used to it; the minute I chase him off I've got to go back to being responsible for a little kid. "Everyone in there is. Logan, Connor, and... even Donna."

Did he think we'd be happy to see him?

"You walk out on your pregnant girlfriend, show up months later, and you expect us to all give you a thumbs up? Do you think we'd idiots? We all know you're only here to manipulate her. Mess with her head. And even if you do stay the only reason is so you can try and turn that kid into your personal soldier, because you failed to do that with me!"

He suddenly whirled around, grabbing me by my shoulders, and got right in my face, "That's not why!"

We held each other's gaze, until he finally let go of me, backed up against the railing, and slid to the floor. His head fell into his hands, "God I just- It _hurts_."

"What hurts?"

Daken pulled one hand away from his face, and placed it over his chest instead, "_Here_. There's no blood, no bruise, I even got it checked out by Reed, and he says there's nothing wrong with me. But I've just been thinking... that it must be Donna."

Scent is steady, he isn't lying, or using pheromones. "I keep thinking why, and... Mio I... I think I must _really _be crazy. Not just psychotic, but actually out-of-it crazy."

"Why would you think-"

It came out as a barely audible whisper. "Because the only answer I can come up with is... I must really _love _Donna. Every minute I'm away from her, it just gets worse."

"You expect me to believe that you actually-"

"I don't care if you believe me. I just want to be with Donna again, and I don't care what I have to do! If you tell me that I have to be monitored by Logan, then I'll do it. If I have to wear a shock collar that goes off whenever I use my claws, or my pheromones, I'll do it. Hell, if I have to be chained to the wall like a dog, I'll do it! Just... _please_," His voice cracked. "Let me stay with her."

He's still not lying... that bastard... came back because he loved her. "And your unborn child?"

"I... I'm not going to pretend that I love that kid. Because I know I don't. Donna loves it, so I'll protect it. And I won't involve it in my... affairs, because Donna won't want that."

He still isn't lying. I can't... I can't believe this, he really does love Donna. Hellhound would have gutted him anyway, chased him off. But I'm not Hellhound anymore, I'm Red Dragon. And apparently I'm also an idiot, because I'm about to give this life destroyer a fiftieth chance.

"Alright, you better-"

"Ah!" Donna screams.

Daken is at the door before I am, throwing it open, "Donna!?"

I slip in around him, Logan has a hand on Donna's shoulder, "What's wrong Darlin?"

Donna looks up at me, both hands holding her belly, "Mio... I'm in labor."

Donna is in labor...

Okay, I need to call the hospital, see when they can have a room open, get the car ready-

DONNA IS IN LABOR!

And so ends the calm and collected feeling.

"You're in labor!?" I screech, "Oh my God, Connor!"

He jumps to his feet, hands halfway up, as if not sure he should leave them at the side, or be using them. "What? What do I do!?"

Connor isn't calm and collected either.

"Get the car!"

He nods, thrusting his hand into his pocket, then his other pocket. He comes up short, and starts looking around, "I can't find the keys!"

"Keep looking!" I scream. Then I turn back to Donna while Logan just kind of sits there, his poker face on, and looking back on that, he was probably tearing his tongue to shreds trying not to laugh. "Donna, stay calm! The worst thing you can do right now is stress yourself out!"

She nodded, rubbing her stomach gently.

"Just breath! Deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth! Sniff the flowers, blow out the birthday candles!" I shout.

Connor calls from the kitchen, "I STILL CAN'T FIND THE KEYS!"

I whirl around, "Did you check under the coffee table!?"

"No, it's to low to the ground!"

"Then lift it up!"

Connor grabbed the table, yanked it up above his head, and nearly cried, "They aren't there!"

He flipped the table upside down, shaking papers off of it and onto the floor, "WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY!?"

Logan finally spoke up, completely calm and collected, "They're in your back pocket. Dumb ass."

Connor froze, the table slipping from his hands and crashing onto the floor. His hand flew to his back pocket, and he brought out a set of car keys.

Connor looked up at all of us, and every single one of us stared at him, even Daken. "Uh... my bad?"

Donna glared at him, "You broke my coffee table."

"I'll fix it." He offered.

"Donna, stop talking and breath!" I ordered. "If you stress too much, you could hurt the baby!"

Donna glared at me, "Mio, I'll be fine-"

"But you're hurting the baby!" I screamed.

Donna snapped, "Sit down and call my doctor Mio!"

I sat down on the floor, pulling out my phone.

Daken walked over to Donna, crouching down beside her chair, "Donna, I know this isn't the best time, but I... I'm not leaving anymore."

Donna met his gaze, and then turned to me as I dialed the number, "Mio, is he telling-"

"He loves you, he's gonna be a devoted dad to that kid, and he won't leave." I rattle off, "He's telling the truth Donna, my nose knows."

Donna turns back to Daken, before looking away bashfully, "Fine, I guess you can stay..."

I never thought I would feel that much relief and love coming off of Daken. As Daken and Donna shared a kiss, Logan groaned, "Well, guess I better get Nick to erase a bunch of files on ya. Keep SHIELD from showing up here."

I hung up the phone, "Dr. Krimble says that she can't admit you until the contractions are four minutes apart, how many minutes apart are they!?"

Donna broke away from Daken's lips, "I've only had one."

I pulled up the clock on my phone, "How long ago was it? Eight minutes?"

Daken rolled his eyes, "Try eighteen seconds, maybe."

"It feels longer somehow..." I mumbled.

Connor suddenly screamed, "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THESE KEYS!?"

"God damn it boy!" Logan yelled, "Just put 'em in yer pocket, and shut the hell up!"

Connor obeyed.

Logan rolled his eyes, "Jesus Christ, you get this worked up over a birth that isn't even your kid, and you're trying to talk my granddaughter into having one?"

Daken's head shot around to glare at Connor, "You've been trying to get my daughter to do what?"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't pull the overbearing Dad gimmick-"

"Overbearing!?" Daken snapped, "He wants you to have his baby! You are not having that pathetic excuse of a man's child! You're only sixteen! I swear to God, if you try it, I'll cut his balls off!"

Connor sank to the ground, not having the mental energy to stand. "I didn't mean anytime soon! I was talking about in a few years!"

"Forget it!" Daken snapped.

"That's my call!" I growled. "I'll do what I want!"

Silence.

Connor broke it. "You mean, you do want to? Eventually?"

I swallowed, "What I meant was... I just... Meant as in... I DON'T KNOW!"

"Obviously you do, or you wouldn't be so angry about someone telling you not to." Connor pointed out.

"... I can't think about this right now Connor Kent, my little sister is being born, and Donna is killing her by being to stressed!"

Daken turned back to Donna, eyes wide, "S-sister?"

Donna nodded, smiling, "We're having a little girl."

Daken stared down at Donna's baby bump, and slowly, gently, placed one of his hands on it. "A girl... I'm having another girl."

I could practically hear him praying that the kid got a gender swap surgery.

Daken was suddenly kissing Donna again.

I felt a bit like a third wheel, so I sat down on the floor, and was quickly joined by Connor. "How long does it normally take for the contractions to start again?"

I frowned, "I don't know... the birthing classes weren't that clear..."

Logan looked up at me, "Birthing class? What good is a birthing class that doesn't tell you about contractions?"

"They said it varied case to case." Connor mumbled.

I put my hands over my eyes, groaning. "So many bad things can happen... the placenta can be in-between the baby and the opening. The minute Donna pushes, she'll bleed out, and so will the baby!"

Donna looked over at me, calmly placing a hand over her stomach, "Mio?"

"Huh?"

"SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I KILL YOU! AND WHEN I KILL YOU I SWEAR TO GOD, I'LL HAVE THEM ENGRAVE 'OBEDIANT LITTLE DADDY'S GIRL' ONTO YOUR GRAVESTONE!" She screeched, jumping up and glaring at me.

I yelped, rolling back, "No!"

"Then shut up." She commanded.

"Yes ma'am." I mumbled numbly, inching closer to Connor.

"Would she really do that?" He whispered.

"Yes." I whispered back.

Connor wrapped his arms around me, "Mio, she scares me."

"Me too."

Daken went right back to making out with Donna, "God, I love you so much... So sexy... Hot damn..."

Connor paused, "Do... do couples normally do this in during labor?"

"I sure as hell wouldn't." I mumbled.


	49. The Last Piece Of The Puzzle

"Donna." Logan said gently, "I can see you're in a lot of pain, but the contractions are only six minutes apart. We've got a long way to go."

"It… hurts." Donna groaned, squeezing tighter as she panted.

"I can see that." Logan said, gently rubbing her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "But the boy's already fainted about five times, I think you need to give him a break."

Donna unclenched her hands, letting Daken's body drop to the floor. Daken's leg twitched for a little, before he started to breathe again. Not very well, considering this was the sixth time in two hours Donna had tried to strangle him, but his lungs were trying and that's what mattered.

After the third time Donna had choked out Daken, Connor and I had started clinging to each other like if we let go, we would be next on Donna's hit list. We were probably right.

Connor whispered into my ear so low only those with super human hearing could hear, "If she gets bored of him, are we next?"

"Yeah." I whispered back.

"Should we run away?"

"No, then she'll remember we're here." I answered, "Then, the hunt is on."

Donna screamed in pain again, and Daken managed to slump to his knees, and struggled through a sentence. "I'm here- here babe. You n- need to hold my neck again?"

"Damn he's whipped." I snickered. I would be lying if I said I didn't love this. The man who had tortured me from birth was practically Donna's neutered bitch.

Logan looked at his watch, "Five minutes, close enough. Get in the car!"

Connor stood up triumphantly, tossing me to the ground in the process. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the car keys, practically holding them above his head in victory. What he said next was probably the equivalent of every great screech of victory, or battle cry. "Remember the Alamo!" "This is Sparta!" "They will never forget what we do here today!"

Connor's eyes gleamed as he said, "I'm driving."

Logan snatched the keys from his hand, "Not today, boy."

Connor's shoulders slumped as Daken stood shakily to his feet, before falling flat on his face. I sighed, looking at Connor. "You get Donna, I'll get Daken."

Connor started to gently help Donna up from her chair, before lifting her painstakingly carefully into a bridal style carry. "I've got you Donna."

"You better not drop me like you did your girlfriend." Donna hissed.

"I'll be careful… I'm more afraid of you anyway." Connor said, chuckling.

I grabbed Daken by the collar of his trench coat, jerking him up into a slightly slumped standing position. I managed to drag him out the door, down the hall, and then promptly threw him down the steps.

He growled as he hit the bottom, nursing worn out lungs, a few broken ribs, and a lot of brand new bruises.

I laughed at him, jogging down the stairs and hauling him to his feet as he cursed at me. "Come on, let's get to the car."

"I really hate you right now." Daken complained as I yanked open the backseat car door.

"You've always hated me." I said dryly.

Logan started the engine as Connor slid Donna into the passenger seat. She groaned slightly, and Daken leaned forward, to wrap his arms around her shoulders and nestle his head into the crook of her neck. "It'll all be over soon Donna. I promise."

We rode to the hospital mostly in silence, with the occasional scream or groan from Donna. Once we got to the hospital it was nearly complete chaos. People were rushing everywhere, screaming, crying, and the overwhelming smell of ammonia. It nearly made me choke.

One of the nurses took one look at Donna, and screamed to one of the other nurses about the maternity ward. Donna was given a wheelchair, and they started running her down the hall. Me, Connor, Daken, and Logan were all running after her, dodging nurses, janitors, and dying people. From the smell of most of them, they weren't gonna live much longer.

Eventually, we reached our destination. It was a small room at the end of the hallway, no windows, the bed looked like it hadn't been given a thorough scrub down in months.

Daken turned to glare at the only nurse who had stayed to help Donna into the bed. "This is where you expect my child to be born!?"

"Sir, this is the only room available at the moment. So shut your mouth, or you can wheel her into the parking lot to have your child." She sassed.

Daken looked like he was ready to tear her head off, but was interrupted when Donna's hand wrapped around his throat, "STOP ARGUING WITH PEOPLE!"

"Ok." He managed to choke out.

The nurse walked around, setting up a few monitors, and sticking an IV into Donna's arm. "I'd ask you to put on a hospital gown, but it doesn't seem necessary." She said, pulling up the end of Donna's bathrobe to look at whatever was going on down there. I didn't look, because I didn't want to give my brain an excuse to give me more nightmares.

Donna screamed again, this time instead of going for Daken's throat, she grabbed the one that was closer to her. Mine.

She wrapped her hands around my throat, her thumbs immediately crushing my windpipe. Blood dribbled out of my mouth as I tried to pull away from her, but she just yanked me closer to the bed. "I WANT MY EPIDERAL!"

Connor turned to the nurse, "Lady, please, please give her the pain meds before she kills my girlfriend!"

The nurse nodded, hooking up the IV. My vision was starting to go black as an intense throb started in my head. I barely registered the nurse placing a needle into Donna's arm, but about five seconds later, Donna's grip loosened enough for my windpipe to heal so I could suck in a much needed breath. I scrambled away from Donna, shoving Daken out of my way as I flattened myself against the opposite wall.

"I'll go get the doctor, make sure he's aware of how far along you are." The nurse said, rushing out of the room.

I looked back at Donna, to see her staring at her hand. She moved it back and forth slowly, her eyes moving along with it.

I tilted my head to the side as I watched her, "What the hell?"

Daken snorted, "Babe, you're high as a kite, aren't you?"

"The ceiling is made of dreams!" Donna whispered excitedly.

Daken poked his head out the door, "Uh, nurse? Could I get one of those?"

"Are you in labor?"

"No."

"Then shut the hell up."

I snickered, "Damn, everyone's busting your balls to day."

Daken glared at me, "Watch your mouth cub."

I glared right back at him, "Don't call me that."

"What's wrong cub?" He smirked, "Don't like it?"

Something about what he said, it wasn't his voice I remembered, but every word struck against something in my head. A pain I had become too familiar with ripped through my mind, and I felt another memory burst free.

_I was ten._

_My birthday was today, and I knew my dad would be coming sometime to drop off my next present. I couldn't wait to talk to him in Russian, after reading that book of Russian children's stories I had picked up the language very easily. It helped that it was a very simple language._

_Mom was inside, getting lunch ready and I was waging an epic war with our donkey, trying to get him to stop knocking over his bucket of feed._

"_Goddamn it, do you not want food, you pathetic creature?" I snarled. I had stopped speaking Japanese a long time ago. My Mother and Grandmother both spoke perfect English, and I didn't like the idea of anyone in town understanding what I said since I hated them all._

Wait, I stopped speaking Japanese? Remembering that made a deep regret wash over me. I like speaking Japanese now, because it helps remind me of my heritage. Why did I shrug it off so easily?

This wasn't the first time I felt disgusted with myself when I discovered a lost memory, but it was definitely the most I had ever been disgusted with myself.

If I ever stumble across time travel, I definitely want to go back in time to kick the ass of my younger self.

"_So, this is the wayward cub?"_

_I whirled around, expecting to see my father, but instead, there was a towering, giant of a man standing there. His hair was black and white, tied up in a knot. His scent was animalistic, somewhat like my fathers, but with my father I could smell a human underneath. With him, there was only an animal._

"_Uh, who- who are you?" I asked, taking an involuntary step back. I could smell danger all over this guy, there was no reason he should be here with me, be within ten miles of my house._

"_You father never told you of me?" He asked, stepping closer to me, his expression one of curiosity. Before I could say anything, he reached out, grabbing me under my arms and lifting me into the air so we were eye to eye. There was a stare down for a few minutes, and I was to terrified to look away._

_Eventually, he broke the staring contest by pulling my body against his massive chest. I felt his nose touch the top of my head, and heard him take a deep breath in, smelling me. I probably smelled kind of gross, considering I had been working out in a hot barn all day._

_He pulled away, smirking, "I see much of your father in you."_

_I cleared my throat, not wanting my voice to break when I spoke to him. "Um, thank you."_

_He wrapped one of his huge hands around both of my ankles, letting go of me with his other. He was so tall (or maybe because I was to short) I didn't hit the floor, I just dangled from his grip as he walked towards my house. "Hey!"_

"_Silence." He didn't yell, didn't threaten, and didn't even seem angry. But something underneath his tone, the way he just expected me to obey made me fear what would happen if I didn't. So I did._

_He carried me towards my house, tossing open the door with ease to reveal the kitchen. My mother looked up from the oven and screamed._

_He smirked at her, "Kenta Fukui. It's been a long time. Nearly ten years now, since you ran off with this little backup plan."_

_My mother was shaking with fear, but that didn't show in her voice. "Lord Romulus, do not call my daughter a backup plan."_

_Lord Romulus let out a big snort, "I can see why Daken didn't wanna kill you. Feisty. I like that."_

_He threw me into the wall, and I screamed when I heard several things inside me snap. Romulus busted out laughing as my mother ran from the room. He thought she was trying to run away. But I knew what she was really after._

_Romulus crouched down next to my broken body, smirking. "I feel pretty damn sorry for you, little bastard. Seeing your mother running away like that, neither one of your parents care much about you, do they?"_

"_Get away from her!"_

_My mother threw herself at Romulus with a fierceness I had never seen in her eyes. Her sword moved like lightning as she sliced through the major vein in each of his arms, then the femoral artery in his left thigh. I had never seem my mother attack anything before. She had_

_She had taught me to target veins as well, but Romulus didn't see very fazed by her attacks. With horror in my eyes I watched as his bleeding stopped and his lacerations healed. He was just like father._

_Romulus growled, and the next time my mother charged at him, he grabbed the sword from her, and shoved in threw her stomach._

"_MOMMY!" I screeched, rushing past Romulus, my pain fading away as my healing factor kicked in. I kneeled next to her as she fell to the floor, her hands grasping at the handle of her sword, as if she was contemplating trying to pull it out, or just leave it in._

"_M-Mio…"_

"_I'm right here mommy." I whispered, tears streaming down my face._

_She smiled up at me, and brushed my tears away. "Mio, remember what I taught you, hold your head high."_

_Before I could say anything else, Romulus grabbed me by the back of my shirt, and lifted me off the ground simply to dangle me in the air._

"_Adorable." He smirked as I struggled. "Relax little one, you're father is here."_

_True to his words, my father burst in the door. I had never seen such hatred and anger on his face before. My father had always been calm and collected around me. But now his words sounded more like dogs barking, and his claws were fully extended._

"_ROMULUS! PUT HER DOWN!"_

_Romulus shook me a little by the back of my shirt, "What's wrong Daken? I told you what happens when you form bonds, they make you weak."_

"_GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER!" I could practically see him foaming at the mouth. His was livid, and it even scared me, even though it wasn't me he was angry at._

"_Why? She's useless. Never even lifted a hand to save her mother." At that, the tears started flowing again. I looked back at my mother's body, but there was no more life in her eyes. She was gone._

"_Your daughter? I don't think you ever understood the plan Daken, from the beginning, she was always meant to die. I own her, I always have and I always will."_

_Daken's anger seemed to dissolve as Romulus lifted his other hand to my throat, the claws scratching at my throat. "I let you keep her for this long, because I found it humorous. The joke is over now."_

_Daken dropped to his knees, his claws going back into his hands, "Wait, please! Romulus, just listen to me."_

_Romulus raised an eyebrow, "Begging Daken?"_

"_She's not weak, she can fight, and she's a feral. She could be useful later on." Daken explained._

_Romulus lowered his claws, and I felt myself let go of a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. "Go on."_

_Daken looked at me, then back to Romulus. "Look, I know, she's young, but the younger the better. She's got a lifetime to learn more, and she learns fast. I promise, she could be great one day. A great tool for you to use."_

"_She's already ruined." Romulus argued. "She's known love and morals. She won't forget that. The moment she had a chance to run she would. Regardless of how much she loves you, Wolverine would only need five minutes to talk to her, she would go to his side."_

_Daken took a deep breath, "Then… then let's ruin her mind. You have a telepath working for you, he could swap out her memories. Give her an entirely different life, so she wouldn't know anything but pain, and loss."_

"_And then?" Romulus asked._

_Daken didn't miss a beat. "Then we drop her off at Hydra. We both know what they'll do to her. She wouldn't be able to erase that kind of damage, even if she should ever remember what happened. She'll be perfect after a few years in there. You could pretend to break in, rescue her, and then she's putty in your hands."_

_Romulus dropped me to the floor and I didn't even register the pain of hitting the ground. I just crawled over to my mother's body, curling up next to it in a tiny ball. "Very well, she better turn out strong."_

_Romulus walked out of the house, and I felt Daken stand up, "She will, I promise."_

"_If she doesn't, I'll kill her myself." Romulus said as he walked away._

_After a few minutes, when Romulus' footsteps faded away, I heard Daken walk over, and felt him put a hand on my shoulder, gently pulling me away from Mom's dead body. "Mio-"_

"_W-why weren't you here?" I sobbed._

_He scooped me up, carrying me out of the room as I cried into his shoulder._

"_Why weren't you here to stop him!?" I screamed._

I snapped back into reality, to hear myself and Donna screaming at the same time. Connor was holding me upright in his arms, Donna was breaking Daken's hand inside her fist. My eyes searched wildly around the room, and the second I located the trashcan, I was bent over it, puking my guts out.

Connor stood behind me, rubbing little circles into my back, "Mio, are you sick?"

"No… I just puke whenever…" No, don't do this now, Donna is having a baby, you aren't bringing your drama into this.

The doctor walked into the room, nestling himself in-between Donna's legs as he took a look, "Well, this one's ready to fly out, huh?"

He looked up at Logan, seeing as he was the only one in the room who wasn't having a nervous breakdown. "How many months along is she again? Nine?"

Logan put a comforting hand on Donna's shoulder, "Seven."

His eyes bulged, "Only seven months!?"

"Why are you freaking out man?" Connor asked, "Didn't you read the book?"

The doctor looked back up at him, "What?"

"The book said that if either one of the parents had a child previously who was premature, there's a greater chance it'll happen to the next one." Connor explained. "Mio was three months premature, and Daken was never carried to full term. It might just be something that runs in the family."

I smirked as I wiped my mouth off on my sleeve, "That's right people, my man is smart."

Logan raised an eyebrow "You were three months premature?"

"Yeah." I mumbled, "I was. That scared the hell out of my mom."

The doctor shrugged, "It may run in the family, but there's still risk of it not surviving."

"Don't worry, it'll live." Daken said to Donna. He turned to the doctor, glaring at him, "That kid inside her it already tougher than you. It's got my blood in it, and the blood of the strongest woman I've ever met. I suggest you put some gloves on, and get it out of her. Now."

The doctor nodded, a bit scared, and went to work with Donna.

"Connor, let's get out of here." I mumbled, pain still pulsating from my brain. "We'll be in waiting room, Donna."

"Wait, Mio don't leave." Donna said, pleading with her eyes. "You promised you'd be here, you said you wouldn't leave me."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, realizing that to Donna, I was breaking my promise. But I couldn't stay in here with Daken, not knowing the truth for the first time of what had really happened to my mother. "It'll be okay Donna, Daken is right here with you."


	50. Two New Beginings

The minute I sat down in the lobby, I felt my body immediately curl up into a ball, my head hiding itself behind my knees and my arms wrapping around myself, as if trying to hold it together. Memories bashed around my mind like I just got hit with a Rope-a-dope by Muhammad Ali himself.

He was never there.

He was there, but never cared.

No, he did care.

No he didn't.

He was on his knees, begging for you!

No, you didn't see him until Dark Avengers.

He was there whenever he could be.

He's the very model of a dead beat dad.

He's done more for you than even Logan.

That last one was the finishing blow. The tears flowed over my cheeks, and I began the hardest, most disgusting crying of my life. It wasn't just tears leaking out of my face; there was so much snot and spit as well. My face was like a puddle of mud and slime.

It was gross, and I'm sure I looked like a swamp witch, but I didn't care. Connor kneeled down next to me on the floor, rubbing little circles into my back as other patients in the hospital stared at us. Most of them just looked the other way, probably figuring that I had just lost a family member here, or found out I had cancer. Something along those lines, I'm sure. Even the nurses just kept to themselves. They had enough to deal with tonight without my emotional breakdown.

Connor finally spoke when my crying died down. "Mio, what's wrong? Did you unlock another memory?"

"He- he wasn't an asshole." I whispered, hoping the admittance of my guilt wouldn't make me vomit again.

"Daken?" Connor asked.

"He… he saved me from Wild Child, and he got in hot water with Romulus for doing that." I whispered. I had told Connor bits and pieces of what I had remembered, and he seemed to understand that I hadn't been ready to reveal the rest. Now I was. I couldn't take any of this shit anymore! I need help. Donna is in labor, Logan isn't going to leave her because he doesn't know what I know. All my friends are either at the Jean Grey School, Utopia X, or Happy Harbor. Connor is here. Connor… I've never fully let him into my pain, but I need to now. I need to because unlike everyone else, he is here.

"I don't even want to know what Romulus did to him when he found out what Daken did. But even though I'm sure he got punished by Romulus… he always came back. Again and again. Every year, sometimes more. He was always pushing me, wanting me to learn more languages, to be able to fight better. I thought he was grooming me to be a weapon but… all he ever wanted was to have some hope that if Romulus ever came looking for me, I'd be able to fight him off, or at least run away." I gulped down the lump in my throat, silent tears spilling over. Connor reached up on one of the coffee tables in the lobby, grabbing a tissue. He gently dabbed at my face, wiping away salty water and mucus.

He kissed my forehead gently, "You can tell me anything Mio, whenever you're ready."

How did Connor always know when to back off? Why has it taken me this long to let him in? He's been more than faithful to me, he's been unbendingly loyal.

"When I was ten… I used to think that Hydra came to my house and killed my mom before they kidnapped me." I took a deep breath. "I was wrong. Romulus killed my mother, and tried to kill me. Daken stopped him. Daken… begged for my life… on his knees."

I broke off then, more sobs shaking my body so hard I thought I was snap in half.

Connor pulled me onto his lap, running his fingers through my hair. "Shush, don't work yourself up so much. Deep breaths okay? Just get it all out when you calm down, okay?"

I listened to him, taking shallow, ragged breaths at first until I was able to calm down enough to take in deep ones. Eventually, the crying stopped and I was ready to talk again.

"He convinced Romulus, that I could be useful. So Romulus had my memories wiped, and they dropped me off at Hydra." I shivered, "Connor, if I hadn't run away, Romulus would have gotten to me. He was right, I would have been putty in Romulus' hands. It would have been so easy at that time, for him to twist me around to his way of thinking. God Connor… I could have turned out like Wild Child."

Connor's arms wrapped around me, "You never would have. I know it."

"Why?" I asked, feeling the sobs about to creep back over me.

"Because no matter where you were in your life, you always had a conscious. You always knew what was right, and what was wrong. Even when the beast would take over, you would always come back, realize what you had done, and be so guilty about it." Connor explained. "You might have been confused, but you didn't want to kill anyone innocent. You didn't kill anyone for a long time when you were with Logan, because you were afraid that maybe he wasn't the good guy either."

I froze, looking up at Connor, "I… I never told you that."

"Logan told me." Connor explained. "He wasn't trying to tell me you life story or anything, he just wanted to make sure I knew who you were. Guess he didn't think I already knew you inside and out."

I nodded, curling up more into his lap. "You do know me…"

Connor kissed my forehead again, "Is that everything? Do you wanna talk some more?"

"Maybe later." I mumbled, "Can I just go to sleep?"

Connor nodded, shifting around to hold me more comfortably. "Go to sleep babe. Remember, I'm right here if you have a nightmare."

He didn't need to tell me twice, I was already out.

**WITH DAKEN:**

"I HATE YOU!" Donna screamed.

I cringed, "Babe… you wanted to keep her!"

The doctor glared at me, before going back between her legs. I glared right back, "Hey, don't get so comfortable down there."

Logan snorted, shaking his head at either me or Donna. I don't give a damn right now, my hand is broken in nearly ten places!

The doctor looked up at Donna, "Ma'am, you need to push."

"NO!" Donna screamed, then took a deep breath, "Look, I don't wanna have a baby today ok!? Just give me three epidurals to go, I'll come back tomorrow!"

The doctor paused with whatever he was doing; looking up at her with what I can only assume is the same look you would give someone if they were wearing shorts and a tank top when it was fifty below zero. "What?"

"I JUST WANNA GO HOME AND EAT FOOD DAMN IT!" Donna screamed.

"Didn't the nurse leave ice chips for-"

"I'M A GROWN ASS WOMAN WITH A BABY, I NEED MEAT!"

"Ma'am, you need to push!" The doctor snapped.

"NOOOOO!"

The doctor looked to me, exasperated, "Get her to push!"

I looked from him, to Donna, to Logan, and then back to him, "How?"

"Motivate her!" The doctor ordered.

I looked from him, to Logan, then back to him, "How?"

Logan reached over the bed, smacking me upside the head, "Damn it boy, unless you want me to get SHIELD here right now, you better step up!"

I looked up at him, "Step- what?"

"Step up, or step aside!" Logan growled, "Either step up and be the man Donna needs right now or step aside and let me do it. You wanted another chance, and this is it!"

I looked back to Donna, and gently put a hand on her shoulder, "Donna, you need to push."

"No." She whimpered, "TELL HIM TO PULL!"

I looked down at the doctor, "Hey, why can't you just pull it?"

The doctor groaned, "If I did that, it could severely damage the baby's skeletal structure!"

"You heard him babe." I said, turning back to Donna, "You've gotta push."

Donna let out a sob, "Daken?"

"What?" I asked.

"Am I gonna be a good mom?" She asked, wiping sweat off of her face.

I stared at her, wondering why she would say such a thing. "Are you an idiot?"

She let out another sob, and I reached up to hold her face in my hands, "Donna, you're gonna be an amazing mother. I promise. I know you, and I know that no matter what happens with this kid, you're going to fight for it every day." I kissed her forehead, "I love you."

Donna took a deep breath, and grunted as she pushed, as hard as she could. The doctor look up, giving Donna a quick thumbs up, "Good job! Just keep breathing, and it'll only take a few more until she's out."

"Daken?" She asked, "Are you sure you want a girl? Mio said-"

"Forget what Mio said." I snapped. "This is my kid, and I'll love it. Okay?"

Donna took a deep breath, and gave another big push.

"Just one more!" The doctor encouraged.

Logan stepped away from the bed, and walked out of the room. Donna didn't seem to notice, but I did. I also knew what that meant. He trusted me. I guess I lived up to that chance. Not over yet though.

I turned back to Donna, "Come on, just one more. Push her out Donna!"

Donna let out one more scream, which was soon joined by another. My head snapped around to look at the doctor, who held up a small, wet, wiggling mess of limbs and screams. Donna was panting, but managed to croak out, "Is that… is that her?"

The doctor smiled up at both of us, "Actually, it's not a girl."

I felt my jaw drop as a nurse started wrapping the baby up in one of those little blankets. "Say hello to your bouncing baby boy!"

The doctor put a clip on the umbilical cord, and held up a pair of scissors. "Sir, would you like to cut the cord?"

I swallowed what felt like a small lump in my throat, walking over slowly, "Uh, sure."

I could hear one heartbeat, Donna's and my son's. They matched each other, beat for beat. The doctor handed me the pair of scissors, and I hesitated before lining it up to cut through the fleshy connection. "Will this hurt them?"

"Just cut it." Donna gasped.

I cut the cord, and underneath all the screaming of my son, I could make out a subtle change in his heartbeat. After a few seconds, their heartbeats were completely different.

The doctor went back underneath Donna's legs, "Just try and relax now, the afterbirth is coming."

"The what?" I asked.

"The placenta needs to get out as well." The doctor explained.

"Will it hurt too?" Donna asked, still hyperventilating.

"No, it'll slide right out."

True to his word, the mass of foul smelling flesh pretty much flopped out of Donna, and a nurse quickly wrapped it up, and walked off with it to dispose of it quickly.

The doctor set the baby into Donna's hands, "See those buttons on your bed? Once you're ready to have a nurse take him and clean him up, run the test we need to, just push that one."

"Oh, ok." I said, trying to get him out of the room because I knew Donna was tired. She need to sleep, the kid needed to stop screaming, and I needed to make sure it happened.

The doctor left, but the nurse came right back in, holding a clipboard, "Alright, Mrs. And Mr. Akihiro, was it?"

"What now?" Donna sighed weakly, readjusting her hold on the baby to see if it would quiet him down.

"We're going to need to get this paperwork taken care of." She explained. "We only need a few moments-"

Seeing the look of utter exhaustion on Donna's face, I interrupted the nurse, "I'll take care of it."

She handed me the clipboard and pen, saying she'd be back in an hour for it.

I looked over the questions, just a needed medical background on both parents, some stuff for the doctor to fill out, and basic information. And a spot where we needed to chose a name.

I didn't want to bother Donna, I just wanted her to go to sleep. The kid was starting to cry instead of scream, so I figured that was a step in the right direction. "Donna?"

"Hmm?" She asked, looking up from our son.

I nearly choked because that's when it really hit me that I had a son. An instinct from somewhere deep inside stirred up, a sort of protective instinct, surrounding the two other people in the room. Donna and my baby boy. My mate and my cub, snuggled together, nearly sleeping.

"Did you have a name picked out?"

She yawned, at the same time my boy hiccupped. "Yeah, but for a girl."

"Any ideas for a boy name?" I asked.

"I don't care, you pick." She mumbled.

I reached over as her eyes fluttered shut, and gently as I possibly could, picked up my son. I held him awkwardly for a moment, before tucking him into my left arm like Donna had done. His crying started up again, but thinking quickly, I started secreting pheromones to calm him down. He calmed down pretty quickly, and I turned to the paperwork, filling out all the medical information about me, and then staring at the papers to confirm his name.

I looked down at him, seeing he had managed to squirm one of his hands out of the blanket so he could grab onto my shirt sleeve. I smiled, making my decision, and filled out the papers. "Welcome to the world, tough guy."

"He looks like you." Logan said.

I looked up to see him leaning against the door frame, smiling at me. He walked over to me, pulling up one of the cheap chairs to sit facing me. "I've set everything up with Nick so he won't call anyone in to arrest you, because I've called in every favor he owes me."

"Thanks." I mumbled, pulling my boy closer to me.

"The minute you screw up, I'll have every available SHIELD agent down here, whooping yer ass." Logan said firmly. "This is your last chance; you don't get another one after this."

"I get it." I growled.

"No you don't." Logan snapped. "The only reason you aren't in a cell right now is because of your son. I couldn't find it in me to have another one of my grandkids abandoned by their dad."

I wanted to snap at him, to tell him the truth, but I couldn't. Mio was still in danger of Romulus, he already tried to get her twice. She needed to keep progressing, and never stop. Once he got his hands on her, then… I don't wanna think about it.

"I'm not leaving."

"Then you know what you want to do with your… career?" Logan asked.

I froze, having never considered it. "Uh…"

"Donna does have a full time job." Logan pointed out. "She's worked a lot to get where she is."

"What's your point?" I asked, trying to cover my son up better with the blanket.

"My point is, you could step up to be the stay at home dad while she works." Logan explained.

"… Oh hell no."

**WITH MIO:**

I looked up at the doorway as I smelled Daken approaching, with a whole new scent. It smelled like a feral, but not as strong as Daken or Logan's animal smell was. I got off Connor's lap, wiped my face off quickly, and tried to make it seem like I hadn't cried my eyes out.

Daken walked into the room, holding a small bundle.

I grinned, "Is that my little sister?"

Daken smirked, "You wish. Say hello to your little brother."

He angled the bundle so I could see his face, and I stepped closer. I pressed my nose against the top of the baby's head, and took the deepest breath I could, committing his scent to memory.

What was incredible is that I swear, the kid took a sniff of me too.

"His name is Kenshin." Daken whispered. "Kenshin Kenta Akihiro."

I looked up at him, my eyes wide. "You… why?"

Daken didn't even hesitate. "Because I don't ever want to forget your mother."

Connor put a hand on my shoulder, "What's going on?"

I swallowed, took a deep breath, and looked over my shoulder at Connor, "My little brother, his middle name, it's my mother's name."

Connor nodded, looking over at Kenshin. "He looks like you, Daken."

Daken smiled, "I know."

I chuckled, "He'll be a ladies' man, for sure."

Connor laughed, "Let's pray he doesn't get any girl pregnant, huh?"

I and Daken both glared at Connor.

"Too soon?"

"Yes asshole." Daken growled.

"I'll be over here…" Connor mumbled, walking back over to his seat.

I looked back up at Daken, "Uh, look, in the delivery room…" I took a deep breath, "I remembered everything."

Daken nodded, going for his poker face. "I told you when you found out about it not to come to me for an explanation. I told you to deal with it yourself."

He turned to walk away, but I grabbed his sleeve, "Wait! Please, I know you don't want to but… I don't want my little brother born into a family feud."

He sighed, "What do you want to know?"

"Why did you save me from Romulus?" I asked.

"I spent years grooming you to be the perfect weapon, I didn't want to lose it-"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" I hissed, "Now tell me the truth."

Daken stared at me for a moment, "You sound just like your mother."

"Good." I said firmly.

"I saved you because…" He seemed to be searching for words, and with every minute that passed, he just got more and more unsure. But eventually, he finished. "Because you're my daughter, and I love you. Not in the traditional way, we both know I can't feel that way, but in my own fucked up way, I do love you."

I nodded, and before I could talk myself out of it, I hugged him. Careful not to bump Kenshin, I wrapped my arms around Daken's waist. He stiffened, not expecting it, but I didn't care. All I could think about was every awful, terrible thing I had ever said to him, or about him. I had called him a dead beat. I said he wasn't fit to breathe. I told him to go to hell. I called him every bad word in the book. I had said he didn't deserve life. I called him a coward. I had told him everything was his fault.

I was wrong.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered. "For everything I said about you, every word! I'm sorry."

He took one arm away from Kenshin, and awkwardly wrapped it around my shoulders, "It's okay. I wanted you to hate me. You needed to hate me, because the hate made you stronger."

I looked up at him, struggling not to cry. "You remember when I called you a coward?"

He nodded.

"I was wrong. You might have more guts than even Logan." I confessed. "Logan wouldn't have been able to… to do that to any of his kids, even if it was for their own good."

Daken moved his hand from my shoulder, to cup the back of my head. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life Mio." He kissed my forehead. "Keeping you wasn't one of them."

We pulled away form each other, and stood in comfortable silence, watching Kenshin gurgle in his sleep. Eventually I broke the silence. "So what do we do now?"

Daken shrugged, "I don't know. I know you've got a pretty good hero thing going on in Happy Harbor, so you can't stay. I've got a baby now, so I'm officially retired, which means no more surprise visits. Come around to see me anytime though."

I nodded, "I'm not going to be in Happy Harbor much longer. I've got a job at the Jean Grey School."

Daken nodded, "And if I ever need a baby sitter, I'll call you."

"And then I'll call Spiderman." Cue Daken flipping me off.


	51. Staro-Tech?

Dear fans, I am so sorry this hasn't been updated in so long. Senior year is killing me, along with things from my personal life. However, I should be writing a lot more soon. Enjoy this chapter!

(PS, this story should only have a few more chapters, then it will be wrapped up. There should be a sequel, if I'm feeling up to it. It will have nothing to do really with Mio or Connor, it'll deal with the next generation of Howlett's.)

Once Donna had woken up, I sat down with her, and apologized for leaving the room. I admitted it was a bitch move to pull, considering how I said I wouldn't leave her, regardless of what my mind had just decided to fuck me over with. She just brushed it off, and told me that she and Daken had spoken about it a little, and they had a game plan. Donna still had six more months of maternity leave, six months for Daken to wrap up his career as an international criminal, settle his debts, pay his dues to SHIELD (cause Nick Fury demanded that if Daken was going to be a free man, he helped them out on a few missions), and get ready to be a stay at home Dad.

Donna had really put her foot down on that last one. She was determined to keep her career, and to not become a stay at home mother. But she did realize that a baby did need at least one person around 24 hours a day, so Daken was left to fill that gap.

It's okay to laugh your ass off at the thought of Daken being a stay at home Daddy. I did. I still am. It's fucking hilarious.

Donna didn't really need me and Connor around anymore, so we packed up and left. But I couldn't leave before doing one last thing for my new little brother.

I went into his nursery, and painted a whole wall in the mural I had considered making. When Daken and Donna got back to their apartment, they saw a mural on their son's wall showing a samurai, in a bamboo forest. Donna thought it was odd, but she loved it, according to the three word e-mail she sent. It was traditional, but at the same time, modern. The samurai himself was a traditional detailed style, but the background was cartoony and upbeat, perfect for a little toddle to stare at.

Connor and I were back at my apartment, and life had tended to fall into a rhythm of school and training. Once those two were done, the only thing left to do was… mess around.

Seriously. If there wasn't homework or pushups to be done, we were very engaged in each other. It's only been two weeks, and we've made out on every flat surface in our apartment (and some not so flat areas). I'd love to just point at Connor and say "Friggin male hormones" but I'm usually the one to initiate the make out sessions.

It's been awesome since we got back to Happy Harbor, and despite calls from Logan about me teaching at the Jean Grey School, I have no intentions of doing so.

I get that he wants me to teach there and all, but I'm only sixteen. I want to act like a teenager for once, not an adult with too much baggage. I've talked with Connor about it, and he seems really happy that we're staying in Happy Harbor. His whole life it here, all his friends, his entire existence has been in this town, and I'm more than happy to stay here with him.

He said he wants to go see the Jean Grey school, to check it out and maybe stay there awhile one day, like he stayed at Utopia X before. I think that would be a good idea, because I've also explained to him that if Logan dies, I have no choice but to take over there, it's my responsibility as Logan's successor, and Connor understands that too.

He's always understood, I'm just now starting to get that.

Right now, me and Connor are snuggled up on our bed, and he's got his mouth on my neck, biting and sucking while his hands grip my hips so hard I think my pelvic bone has micro fractures by now, but I don't care because it feels so good…

Connor sucked at a spot on my neck he had just bitten, making me curl my toes, and dig my fingers into his back. "Ah- Co- Conner!"

His fingers brush my shirt up, so the bottom of my black bra shows. Connor growled, "I want you Mio… I want you right now. Right here."

I want him too; I want him so much I can't even speak. I just relish the feeling of his rock hard abs against mine as our hips grind against each other, and he's biting my neck again, and-

And I hear little feet running down the hall towards my room.

Connor pulled back, smoothing my shirt back into place as he pulls the blankets over us. Lovette bursts into the room a few seconds later, "Connor! Mio!"

I open my arms up wide, and she scrambles up onto the bed into my embrace. "Another bad dream?"

She whimpers, and Connor smiled, brushing her hair out of her face. "It's okay Lovette, we're right here."

Ever since Jubilee brought Lovette back here with us, she's been having nightmares about Daken catching her again. I've tried to explain to her that Daken isn't a threat anymore, and she's beginning to understand but it'll take awhile for her to stop being afraid of him. I preached fear of him into her mind since we bolted from the Dark Avengers, and it's not going to go away overnight.

I lay back down on the bed, and Lovette wormed her way between me and Connor. She really likes Connor, sometimes I think she likes him more than she likes me, but that's just envy thinking. She still loves me like a big sister, and I'm thankful that now I can be there for her. Connor reached over, putting his arms around both me and Lovette.

Some small part of my mind worried about Connor holding Lovette to tight and maybe hurting her, but he only does that with me. I'm not concerned very much.

I loved what me and Connor and Lovette had turned into, it almost felt like… a family. I felt like I had a family, for the first time in a long time.

"Mio!"

I looked down at Lovette, idly stirring the vegetable lo-mein on the stove. "You need something?"

"When's dinner gonna be done?" She asked, shifting from foot to foot. She was so hyper all the time, she reminded me of a puppy who couldn't stop wagging it's tale.

"About 15 minutes." I answered, "And no, you cannot have a cookie before dinner."

She smilled and ran off to the living room where Connor was trying to figure out his banking information. "What's a mortgage?"

"It's like rent but you pay the bank and it's a shit ton more money. And if you miss a payment, your financial life is basically over." Logan answered.

Logan was over here every other weekend. He kept the fridge stocked with beer and whiskey.

I enjoyed his visits, especially seeing Connor and him talk. It was always something new Connor wanted to learn. Last week it was how to program a VCR, the week before that it was motorcycle maintenance. This week he wanted to learn finances. I personally think he's starting to see Logan as a father figure, but I'm not saying it outloud.

Jubilee ruffled up my hair as she sat on my counter, munching on blood sausage. She tags along sometimes. "So, how are things going with Donna and Daken?"

I hear Logan stiffen up in the living room. He wants to hear this too. Donna will text him, but she won't talk about Daken, just her and Kenshin. She sent pictures of him dressed up as Mulan last week. Daken was less than thrilled.

"They're good. Daken is actually taking to the homemaker career. He's obsessively tidy already, so Donna's apartment is spotless. Kenshin is a really chill baby apparently, and of course pheromones help when he starts crying. Daken will speak Japanese around him when Donna is gone, trying to make sure he'll be bi-lingual." I grinned, "Donna is trying to learn Japanese now too, so they can't cut her out of the loop."

Jubilee nodded, "Must be weird for you, having a little brother."

I shrugged, "Yeah, but a good weird. Bad weird is Donna texting me a picture of Daken in a pink apron last night."

Logan started laughing hysterically while Conner chuckled. Jubilee ruined it by saying, "Was he _only_ in an apron, cause that's a kink."

"Oh please Jubes, I'm Japanese. I'm a walking kink."

Logan groaned, and tilted his beer, bottoms up. Jubilee snickered, and Conner probably just had a confused look on his face.

My phone started vibrating, and from the music playing, it was Mrs. Martian.

**Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back  
>Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl<br>Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back  
>Push up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl<strong>

I answered, "Meghan?"

"YouandConnerneedtogetdownhererightnow,topsecret,RedArrowwasthemolebutsomethingelseisgoingonBatmancalleduskids,RedTornadohadachiponhim-"

"You will stop talking and take a deep breath." I ordered as I walked towards my bedroom, Connor rising from his seat in the living room and following me. I heard hyperventilating from Megan's end of the line. "Now, you will continue with your explanation, with a pause between each word at least one tenth of a second long."

"Red Tornado had a chip on him, and a low level magic aura. So did Batman. And Batman called us kids!"

I turned the phone on speaker, tossing it on the bed as I went to my dresser. My uniform was still in there, freshly cleaned. Courtesy of Connor.

"Long story short, we think that the Justice League is being mind controlled by Vandal Savage."

I turned back around to the phone, making eye contact with Connor. "Do you have any hard evidence?"

There was a pause, and then Robin's voice came over the phone. "Plenty. It's called Staro-tech. Everyone in the league is infected except Red Tornado now. You've been in and out of the league a lot recently, and you're under suspicion too, as well as Super Boy. Tell me something you've never told anyone else, or I'll cut this line."

I took a deep breath. I hadn't told Robin much about my personal life, but there was one or two instances, usually after death defying missions, when we had both been a bit high off of the feeling of success and adrenaline that we had opened up to each other. "The night after I fought Sportsmaster, me and you got super drunk and you told me Batman's secret identity."

Silence.

"Ok, you check out." He sounded agitated.

Kid Flash yelled from the background, "HOW COULD YOU TELL HER BEFORE YOU TOLD ME!?"

"I WAS DRUNK!"

"Robin, focus." Connor growled.

Artemis' voice came over the phone next. "Okay, while the married couple bickers, Robin said there was a change Wolverine might be infected as well."

Me and Connor both turned towards the doorway, seeing Logan standing there, and eyebrow raised. My claws came out as Connor's fists came up.

Logan held his hands up in defense. "Not brainwashed, kids."

My eyes narrowed, "Tell me something you've never told anyone else."

Logan paused for a few moments, before deciding. "I used to think the Storm was just a close friend, but ever since Jean died, I… consider her more."

Translation, he's been fucking Storm and I know about it because her scent is all over him lately.

"It's him." I mumbled, claws sheathing. "Logan, stay here with Jubilee and Lovette, let the Avengers and X-men know what's happened to the league. Me and Connor will join Young Justice."

Logan frowned, "Keep me updated as to what the plan is."

I pulled my mask on, "No problem. Artemis, you get all that?"

"Yeah, apparently the wolf guy and the white haired chick have been getting busy." She snarked.

"That was not the focal point. Where do Connor and I meet you?"

"I'll text you the coordinates."

She hung up, and my phone vibrated. I expected the text to be from Artemis, but it was from Donna.

Daken is gone.

"… Logan what are the chances that while Daken was working with the Joke, he got infected with Staro-tech?"

"High." He answered, "You think you can take him?"

I nodded, "Confident."


End file.
